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Author: 


Title: 


Joseph  Schaffner, 

1848-1918 

Place: 

Chicago 

Date: 

1920 


^q-^^OS^-"/ 


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Joseph  Schaffner,  1848-1918;  recollections  and 
impressions  of  his  associates.   Chicago,  1920. 
4  p.  1.,  135  p.  front,  (port.)  faoszm.  22f». 


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JOSEPH  SCHAFFNER 

1848-1918 


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JOSEPH 
SCHAFFNER 

1848-1918 

RECOLLECTIONS  AND  IMPRESSIONS 
OF  HIS  ASSOCIATES 


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"Nature  seems  to  exist  for  the 
excellent.  The  world  is  upheld 
by  the  veracity  of  good  men. 
They  make  the  earth  wholesome. 
They  who  lived  with  them 
found  life  glad  and  nutritious.*" 

— Emerson 


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INDEX  TO  CHAPTERS 


FOREWORD 

EARLY  DAYS 

THE  TREASURES  OF  HIS  MIND 

THE  BUSINESS  MAN-I 

THE  BUSINESS  MAN-II 

THE  LETTERS  HE  WROTE 

INDUSTIOAL  RELATIONS 

HIS  BELIEF  IN  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

THOUGHTS  ON  SUCCESS 

TWO  TRIBUTES 


PAGE 
I 

3 

9 

19 

39 

59 

85 

105 

123 

129 


FOREWORD 


N  this  book  are  set  forth  some  of 
the  things  we  know  about  Joseph 
Schafiher  as  he  disclosed  himself 
in  his  daily  business  relations  with 
the  men  and  women  of  his  own  organi2;ation. 
It  is  one  indication  of  the  nature  of  our 
association  with  him  that,  although  we  were 
merely  employes,  he  gently  rebuked  any  ref- 
erence to  himself  as  "chief';  he  said:  "I  am 
simply  an  employe,  too/'  We  worked  with 
him  rather  than  for  him. 

Since  he  left  us,  we  have  all  wanted  to  re- 
member and  in  some  way  perpetuate  the 
impressions  and  memories  of  our  friend  and 
co-worker;  so  much  of  what  he  gave  to  us  is 
too  rich  to  lose.  We  have  tried  here  to  re- 
cord some  of  these  things  and  to  present  an 
intimate  portrait  of  the  man  as  he  appeared 
to  us  from  day  to  day;  for  to  have  known 
Joseph  Schaffher  is  a  great  and  enduring  in- 
spiration. 

[i] 


^ 


if 


EARLY  DAYS 

ROM  the  Civil  War  to  the  World 
War,  big  business  was  the  domi^ 
nant  note  in  American  life.  That 
period  marks  a  great  commercial 
and  industrial  development.  Business  ab^ 
sorbed  politics;  combinations  were  forming; 
production  became  vast;  great  fortunes  were 
reared.  Success,  measured  in  terms  of  business 
achievement,  was  the  great  goal  of  the  day. 
The  self-made  man  who  had  come  from  the 
log  cabin  or  the  steerage  to  business  captaincy 
was  the  shining  example  for  the  youth  of  the 
country.  It  was  in  this  period  that  Joseph 
Schaffiier  lived. 

The  mature  years  of  his  life  almost  exactly 
lap  this  business  epoch.  He  became  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  about  the  time  the  country 
had  ceased  to  stagger  from  the  effects  of  the 
Civil  War  and  his  death  in  191 8  came  only  a 
few  months  before  the  end  of  the  World  War. 

[3I 


\ 


f 


His  contribution  to  this  glowing  period 
was  an  unusual  one.  He  achieved  his  share 
of  business  success  and  he  did  more;  he  took 
an  honorable  and  creditable  part  in  the  times 
in  which  he  lived  and  also  he  projected  him^ 
self  into  the  days  beyond  his  life. 

The  idea  of  how  much  a  business  or  an 
industry  can  serve  the  community  at  large 
and  how  it  can  do  that  to  the  mutual  ad^ 
vantage  of  all  the  people  engaged  in  it  seems 
surely  to  be  the  line  of  development  for  the 
next  epoch.  Joseph  Schaffner  foresaw  the 
trend  and  was  a  pioneer  in  that  field  of 
thought. 

The  industry  to  which  he  gave  his  greatest 
thought  and  service  was  hardly  beyond  the 
craft  stage  when  he  began  his  career.  Before 
he  died  it  had  become  one  of  the  large  in- 
dustries of  the  country,  and  a  great  contribu- 
tion to  its  character  and  standards  had  been 
made  by  the  firm  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

There  was  nothing  in  his  early  life,  his 
education  or  his  training  that  seemed  espe- 

[4I 


cially  to  prepare  him  for  this  career.  He  was 
bom  March  23, 1848,  in  Reedsburg,  Ohio,  his 
parents  having  emigrated  to  America  from 
Germany.  The  schooling  that  he  received 
was  typical  of  the  times,  consisting  of  a  few 
years  in  common  school,  and  his  total  school- 
ing was  certainly  less  than  equivalent  to  what 
is  today  given  in  the  first  eight  grades  of  the 
public  schools. 

He  had  the  experience  of  many  another 
merchant  of  receiving  his  first  mercantile 
training  in  a  country  store  where  he  counted 
and  candled  eggs  and  exchanged  them  for 
sugar  or  calico.  The  great  strife  or  feeUng 
preceding  the  Civil  War  did  not  reach  him; 
he  was  too  young.  But  as  a  boy  of  fourteen 
or  fifteen  years  of  age  he  sold  articles  of  food 
to  the  soldiers  who  happened  to  be  near-by, 
and  he  recollected  it  as  an  unusual  experience. 
He  lived  for  a  time  in  Cleveland  and  reached 
Chicago  as  a  young  man,  barely  of  age,  with 
the  desire  to  earn  some  money  and  contribute 
to  the  support  of  his  parents.  His  endow- 

[5I 


I 


ments  were  the  Jewish  inheritances  of  char^ 
acter  and  ambition  and  mental  alertness. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  the  unusual  things 
did  not  greatly  enter  into  his  life.  He  pro^ 
gressed  in  business  and  prospered.  His  work 
was  done  with  vigor  and  ability  but  the  im^ 
portant  use  of  his  great  faculties  was  deferred. 
These  years,  however,  even  though  their 
description  sounds  commonplace,  inevitably 
were  preparing  him  for  his  subsequent 
career. 

Somewhere  in  the  early  years  of  his  Ufe, 
perhaps  from  his  mother  or  from  his  father, 
possibly  from  the  debates  held  around  the 
stove  of  a  country  general  store,  possibly 
from  some  book  or  from  some  person,  he  re 
ceived  the  stimulus  to  read.  As  a  young  man 
he  learned  to  prefer  good  literature.  His  mind 
had  a  seemingly  natural  preference  for  the 
best  things  that  had  been  thought  and  writ' 
ten  in  the  world.  Early  in  life  he  knew  and 
loved  Shakespeare;  he  eagerly  read  essays 
and  biographies.  What  he  drank  in  was  good; 

16] 


it  went  into  a  mind  that  absorbed  and  inter^ 
preted  and  made  it  a  part  of  its  own  life. 

When  he  was  nearly  forty  years  of  age,  he 
severed  a  connection  that  represented  the 
work  of  his  youth  and  planned  to  start  to 
the  Northwest  on  a  new  business  venture. 
At  this  critical  moment  of  his  life,  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly  he  entered  a  partnership 
with  men  who  knew  him  and  understood  him 
and  whom  he  knew  and  understood,  and  with 
that  moment  began  his  real  career 

There  followed  a  little  more  than  thirty 
years  of  association  with  these  men.  Into 
those  years  they  crowded  achievements  of 
the  most  brilliant  nature  that  gave  to  the 
clothing  industry  a  dignity  and  standing 
which  it  did  not  before  possess. 

Ideas  of  business  promotion  bore  abundant 
fruit.  Advertising  was  introduced  into  the 
plan  of  clothing  distribution  and  applied  so 
effectively  that  it  revolutioni2;ed  the  promo- 
tion side  of  the  business.  In  doing  it,  there 
was  incidentally  made  a  contribution  to  the 

[7I 


i 

1 


general  standards  of  advertising,  the  value  of 
which  is  permanent. 

The  interest  of  educators  and  students  was 
aroused  in  the  problems  of  commerce  and  in- 
dustry through  pri2;es  offered  for  essays  on 
economic  subjects. 

An  industrial  crisis  was  met  and  principles 
of  common  justice  applied  to  it  in  such  a  way 
that  one  of  the  famous  labor  agreements  of 
America  was  produced. 

These  things  were  done  in  the  midst  of  the 
development  of  a  marvelous  business,  the  suc- 
cess of  which  in  itself  constituted  a  great 
achievement  for  the  men  engaged  in  it. 


181 


THE  TREASURES  OF 
HIS  MIND 

r  is  because  Joseph  SchaiSSier  filled 
his  mind  full  of  the  great  thoughts 
of  the  world,  because  he  was  es- 
sentially imaginative  and  almost 
poetical  in  his  thought,  and  because  he  con- 
stantly showered  upon  others  the  things  that 
he  himself  had  gleaned,  that  we  introduce  into 
this  recollection  of  his  life  a  chapter  on  the 
treasures  of  his  mind. 

As  a  rule,  the  environments  of  business  and 
its  demands  do  not  furnish  business  men  with 
much  opportunity  to  disclose  anything  more 
than  their  daily  judgments  and  decisions.  We 
are  not,  ordinarily,  accustomed  to  receiving 
from  business  men  what  we  received  from 
Mr.  Schaffner,  but  no  one  could  meet  him 
daily  without  being  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  his  mind  was  filled  with  treasures  and 
that  he  was  always  eager  to  share  them. 

[9I 


,M  •    ■■-■ 


What  he  lacked  in  the  way  of  a  college  or 
university  training  he  had  well  made  up  in  a 
remarkable  way  by  his  devotion  to  good 
literature,  and  it  was  this  process  of  training, 
self  imposed,  which  made  him  one  of  the  most 
highly  cultivated  men  one  could  meet— a  re^ 
specter  of  intellect,  a  friend  of  many  men  of 
culture  and  training.  He  had  an  insatiable  hun^ 
ger  for  the  best  thoughts  of  men. 

In  his  daily  business  intercourse,  he  always 
introduced  something  apart  from  business  and 
yet  not  apart  from  it.  He  avoided  the  shrewd 
and  the  crafty  processes.  He  always  brought 
something  human,  something  high  and  helpful, 
into  the  most  ordinary  business  transactions. 

And  yet  he  was  first  and  always  a  business 
man.  His  characteristic  was  that  he  directed 
not  only  great  powers  of  intellect  to  business 
experience  and  the  daily  aflfairs  of  commerce 
but  he  also  applied  everything  he  thought  and 
felt  to  the  same  end.  There  was  nothing  in 
his  life  or  in  his  experience  that  seemed  to  be 
foreign  to  business. 

hoi 


Day  after  day,  and  many  times  a  day,  many 
of  us  had  such  experiences  as  this:  A  matter  of 
business  was  to  be  laid  before  him  and  dis- 
cussed with  him  for  his  advice  and  approval. 
He  kept  in  close,  active  touch  with  all  business 
matters.  He  insisted  upon  clear  and  brief 
presentation  of  subjects.  When  they  were 
before  him  he  would  give  them  thoughtful 
attention.  His  mind  seemed  to  run  ahead  and 
to  understand  what  was  coming.  He  weighed 
everything  rapidly  but  not  too  hurriedly.  His 
opinions  were  quickly  formed  and  emphati- 
cally expressed.  Then  he  might  relate  some 
incident  of  business  which  had  a  bearing  upon 
the  matter  in  hand  or  draw  upon  the  great 
frind  of  good  things  in  his  mind  to  give  point 
and  emphasis  to  his  comment. 

It  was  truly  remarkable  how  he  could  delve 
into  the  recesses  of  his  mind  and  pick  out 
illustrations  or  incidents  or  quotations  to  fit 
the  prosaic  mtatters  of  business,  or  he  might 
entirely  discard  business  thought  and  say,  "I 
was  reading  last  evening  in  Boswell's  'Life  of 

[ii] 


H 


1 


Johnson  "  (or  in  Matthew  Arnold's  "Essays,'' 
or  perhaps  one  of  his  favorite  poems)  "an  ex- 
tremely interesting  part  where  he  says—'' 
and  then  would  follow  a  quotation. 

Sometimes  it  was:  "By  the  way,  have  you 
j-ead— "  mentioning  some  book  he  was  then 
enjoying.  "You  must  read  that;  it's  just  the 
sort  of  thing  you  would  enjoy.  I'll  get  a  copy 
of  it  and  send  it  to  your  home";  or  he  would 
strongly  recommend  the  purchase  of  this  or 
that  work,  usually  with  a  keen  and  accurate 
perception  of  the  individual  taste  and  perhaps 
the  intellectual  needs  of  the  man  to  whom  he 
was  speaking. 

There  is  probably  not  one  among  the  men 
or  women  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be 
on  these  terms  of  personal  daily  intimacy  with 
him  who  cannot  present  a  hst  of  books— 
gifts  from  him,  or  bought  at  his  urgent  recom- 
mendation—and which  now  grace  our  own 
libraries.  His  influence  was  an  inspiration  to 
the  higher  life  of  the  intellect;  and  he  exerted 
this  influence  daily  in  business  relationships. 

[12] 


f 


i 


Here  are  some  of  the  works  and  authors 
whom  he  often  quoted  or  included  in  his 
gifts:  The  "Essays"  of  Matthew  Arnold; 
Boswell's  "Life  of  Johnson";  Walter  Raleigh's 
"Essays  on  Samuel  Johnson";  "Essays  on  Shake- 
speare"; John  Morley's  "Studies  in  Liter- 
ature" and  "Life  of  Gladstone";  Walter 
Pater's  "Essay  on  Style";  Francis  Parkman's 
works;  Symond's  "Italian  Renaissance";  "Let- 
ters of  Junius";  Prescott's  works;  Taussig's 
"Principles  of  Economics";  Leslie  Stephens' 
"Hours  in  a  Library";  the  "Letters  of  Charles 
Eliot  Norton";  the  "Life  of  John  Hay";  the 
writings  of  Lafcadio  Heam;  Anatole  France's 
"The  Crime  of  Sylvester  Bonnard";  "Essays  on 
Shakespearean  Tragedy,"  by  Bradley.  These 
are  only  a  few  books.  This  list  is  an  indication 
of  the  breadth  and  variety  of  Mr.  Schaffher's 
reading;  he  did  not  recommend  a  book  he  did 
not  know  personally. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  his  reference 
to  these  and  other  literary  treasures  was 
made  in  any  pedantic  way;  he  was  merely  one 

I13I 


'1} 


tt 


t^ 


lover  of  books  pointing  out  to  others  the  good 
things  he  had  found  and  enjoyed.  For  his  own 
refreshment  he  preferred  the  "old  stand-bys''; 
and  his  excursions  into  other  fields  would  usu^ 
ally  bring  him  back,  with  renewed  relish,  to 
Boswell's  "Johnson,''  to  Macaulay's  "Essays, 
to  Shakespeare,  Matthew  Arnold's  "Essays, 
Wordsworth's  poetry,  and  Marcus  Aurelius. 
More  than  once  he  quoted  an  incident  report^ 
ed  of  the  poet  Tennyson,  that,  when  dying,  he 
said  to  his  attendant,  "Brii^  me  my  Shake^ 
speare,"  and  then  remained  quiet,  holding  the 
beloved  volume  in  his  hands.  His  own  love  of 
Shakespeare  made  this  anecdote  very  precious 
to  Mr.  Schaffner.  "What  was  good  for  Tenny^ 
son  is  good  for  me,"  he  said. 

He  often,  half-shyly,  would  apologize  to  us 
for  so  frequently  permitting  these  matters  of 
the  intellectual  life  to  interrupt  the  orderly 
process  of  business;  but  we  now  realize  what 
a  constant  stimulus  and  inspiration  he  was  in 
all  these  matters,  and  we  are  spiritually  richer 
for  his  daily  influence. 

I14I 


He  had  a  modesty  about  his  gifts  of  books 
that  was  truly  charming.  To  a  man  or  woman 
who  was  desirous  of  expressing  ardent  thanks 
for  his  thoughtfulness,  he  would  say,  "Why,  I 
had  a  selfish  purpose  in  doing  that.  In  reading 
a  book  of  that  kind  you  derive  good  from  it 
and,  in  turn,  you  put  it  back  into  the  business. 
That  is  my  way  of  getting  more  out  of  you." 
With  such  an  employer  as  that,  how  could 
anyone  do  less  than  give  him  more? 

That  he  possessed  rare  literary  gifts  of  his 
own  in  a  very  large  degree  was  evident  to  all 
of  his  associates,  but  he  modestly  and  almost 
emphatically  disclaimed  them.  He  had  great 
ability  in  the  use  of  simple,  forceful  English 
and  some  of  his  letters,  both  of  a  business 
and  a  personal  character,  are  worthy  to  rank 
among  the  best  letters  ever  written. 

He  had  a  keen  and  lively  sense  of  humor. 
He  sometimes  said  that  temperamentally  he 
was  perhaps  inclined  to  be  melancholy,  but 
this  was  seldom  apparent.  Occasional  periods 
of  gravity  were  signs  that  he  had  something 

I15I 


of  a  serious  nature  before  him  or  that  he  was 
not  feeling  physically  at  par,  but  he  loved 
good  stories  and  told  them  and  listened  to 
them  with  much  satisfaction.  His  method  of 
giving  advice  or  instruction  or  making  his 
point  in  an  argument  was  very  often  by  the 
medium  of  a  remark  or  an  illustration  that 
brought  a  laugh. 

His  appreciation  of  his  associates  was  very 
beautiful.  He  was  constantly  referring  to  the 
qualities  of  the  men  around  him.  One  man 
he  would  greet  jocularly,  "Good  morning, 
talented  exponent  of  our  views,''  and  he  en- 
joyed the  respectful  familiarity  of  the  retort, 
"Hail  to  you,  venerated  patron  of  the  arts,'' 
or  some  other  high-flown  term.  Of  another 
man  he  would  say,  "He  is  nothing  short  of  a 
wizard.  I  don't  see  how  he  directs  his  com- 
phcated  work  with  such  smoothness."  Of 
another,  "See  that  man  with  the  steam  engine 
walk.  When  I  see  him  moving  along  like  that, 
I  know  he  is  after  something  and  that  he  will 
get  it." 

Ii6l 


r 


No  man  ever  possessed  in  a  greater  degree 
the  ability  to  inspire.  Men  naturally  became 
confidential  and  told  him  their  problems  and 
expressed  their  hopes;  they  never  departed 
from  his  office  without  feeling  a  glow  of  some 
higher  resolve  and  happiness.  It  might  be  some 
young  man  in  the  house  who  had  ambitions 
to  build  a  home,  or  some  man  who  possibly 
had  been  rather  careless  about  his  expense, 
or  a  merchant  who  was  troubled  about  his 
relations  with  his  partners.  But,  no  matter 
what  the  problem  was,  it  would  clear  away 
before  Mr.  Schaffiier's  philosophical  and  in' 
spirational  advice. 

With  himiself,  Mr.  Schaffiier  was  very  se^ 
vere.  He  was  acutely  sensitive,  with  a  sort  of 
a  conscience  that  led  to  much  reflection  and 
constant  questioning  of  self  He  would  tor- 
ture himself  for  weeks  and  spend  sleepless 
nights  because  he  thought  that  something  he 
had  said  of  someone  he  respected  might  have 
given  unintentionally  an  unfair  or  unjust  im- 
pression. A  soul  like  his  was  bound  to  pos- 

I17I 


•|l 


i< 


sess  the  most  acute  and  remarkable  sense  of 
honor.  Those  around  him  were  constantly 
trained  in  the  morals  of  keeping  faith  and  of 
avoiding  sharp  and  shrewd  practice.  He  used 
to  quote  often  from  his  beloved  Marcus  Au^ 
relius,  "Fear  nothing  but  disgrace/' 

He  retained  to  the  end  of  his  life  great 
mental  youth  and  flexibiUty.  He  gathered 
young  men  around  him  and  in  the  light  of 
their  younger  vision  he  constantly  re-exam^ 
ined  his  own  ideas  and  policies. 

We  who  were  associated  with  him  and 
privileged  to  have  a  share  in  his  activity  were 
constantly  made  to  feel  on  terms  of  equality 
and  friendliness.  He  was  an  elder  brother  and 
wise  counselor,  an  intellectual  and  spiritual 
inspiration,  to  his  death.  We  are  beginning 
to  realize  our  debt  to  him. 


[i8] 


THE  BUSINESS  MAN-I 

HE  springs  of  Mr.  Schaffiier's  influ' 
ence  came  from  the  deep  sources 
of  spiritual  strength  —  a  strong 
faith  in  men,  his  belief  in  their 
honesty,  his  unshakable  confidence  in  the 
high  ideals  which  he  steadily  applied  to  his 
own  business.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
therefore,  that  the  profound  impression  he 
made  upon  his  closest  business  associates  ex^ 
tended  to  the  executives  of  the  house,  the 
salesmen,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  organi2;ation, 
to  retail  merchants  and  to  any  man  with 
whom  he  had  business  relations. 

When  the  partners  of  Hart  Schafiher  6? 
Marx  began  their  association,  the  industry  as 
a  whole  had  been  on  a  "caveat  emptor''  basis 
and  was  not  highly  respected.  They  could 
see  no  reason  why  the  clothing  business 
should  not  be  as  respectable  as  the  banking 
business;  and  they  purposed  to  make  it  so. 

IiqI 


V 


I 


Bad  practice  in  business  was  courageously 
fought  and  efforts  made  to  educate  to  the 
dignity  of  their  calling  a  great  body  of  retail 
merchants  all  over  the  country.  For  thirty 
years  they  encouraged  the  highest  standards 
of  business  and  held  that,  if  a  merchant  would 
prosper,  he  must  make  his  profits  in  the  ser^ 
vice  of  his  customers  rather  than  at  their 
expense.  As  Mr.  Schaffner  once  said,  "If  we 
were  here  only  to  sell  goods  and  make  a  lot 
of  money,  it  would  not  warrant  us  in  push' 
ing  so  hard,  because  no  one  has  the  right  to 
high  consideration  who  has  nothing  but  a 
material  object  as  a  basis  for  his  motives.  It 
is  useless  for  us  to  say  we  are  not  striving  to 
make  money,  because  that  is  the  measure, 
after  all,  of  success  in  business;  but  it  is  gratis 
fying  at  the  same  time  to  feel  that  it  is  coupled 
with  an  ethical  principle  that  puts  us  on  a 
big,  broad,  moral  foundation.  The  best  evi- 
dence of  this  is  that  people  generally  ac 
knowledge  we  have  done  much  to  raise  the 
standard  of  the  clothing  industry.  I  believe 

L20I 


IM' 


if  we  could  really  appreciate  what  we  have 
here  we  should  be  overflowing  with  the  joy 
of  our  activities  and  grateful  that  we  are  con- 
nected with  a  business  that  has  given  us  such 
opportunities.'" 

In  many  ways  he  expressed  these  high 
policies  to  merchants.  There  are  hundreds  of 
retailers  throughout  the  country  who  would 
gladly  acknowledge  the  debt  they  owe  him 
for  his  encouragement,  for  his  kindly  admoni- 
tions, for  the  ideals  which  he  constantly  held 
before  them. 

Any  merchant  who  disregarded  ethical 
principles  was  quite  certain,  sooner  or  later, 
to  bring  down  upon  himself  a  wrath  that  was 
scathing.  It  is  a  tribute  to  Mr.  Schaffner  that 
his  most  searching  and  severe  methods  in  such 
cases  seldom  aroused  resentment. 

We  who  were  in  close  touch  with  many 
of  these  cases  sometimes  had  moments  of  anx- 
iety as  to  the  effects  of  such  severity  on  the 
business;  but  Mr.  Schaffner  calmly  said,  "I 
know  Fm  right  about  this  and  he's  wrong. 

[21J 


I 


Don't  worry  about  the  effect  on  the  business. 
When  you're  sure  you're  right,  go  ahead." 
There  are  merchants  today  who  were  pulled 
out  of  the  mire  of  disreputable  practice  by 
the  severe  rebukes  administered  by  him. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  business,  the  can^ 
cellation  of  orders  was  a  common  practice 
except  among  the  best  merchants  and  there 
was  almost  no  attempt  to  frustrate  it.  A 
merchant  felt  at  liberty  to  buy  as  much  as  he 
pleased  and  take  as  little  as  he  pleased.  This 
abuse  Mr.  SchaflSier  attacked  with  all  of  his 
energy.  He  did  not  have  the  idea  that,  lone^ 
handed,  he  could  wipe  it  out  at  one  stroke 
but  he  did  beUeve  that  the  flagrant  cases 
should  be  fought  to  the  last  ditch  and  that 
gradually  merchants  should  be  taught  that 
good  faith  must  be  a  part  of  every  business 
transaction. 

On  one  occasion  a  large  retailer,  after  an 
order  had  been  accepted,  undertook  to  make 
an  extensive  cancellation  by  mail  and  did  so 
in  an  arbitrary  and  high-handed  manner.  This 

I22] 


brought  a  rebuke  so  thorough,  so  full  of  jus- 
tice, that  the  man  who  received  it  must  have 
had  a  new  view  of  himself 

Unfortunately  the  files  containing  the  letter 
no  longer  exist  but  it  remains  in  the  memory 
of  the  people  in  the  office  and  certainly  it  is 
still  in  the  mind  of  the  man  who  received  it. 
It  was  a  firm,  dignified  denunciation  of  the 
practice  and  concluded  with  the  statement 
that  the  company  had  no  desire  to  do  busi- 
ness with  a  man  who  did  not  keep  faith  and 
that  he  was  entirely  welcome  to  make  his 
purchases  elsewhere  in  the  future. 

There  was  great  interest  as  to  what  would 
follow.  In  those  days,  not  one  business  man 
in  a  thousand  would  have  predicted  any  other 
result  than  the  cancellation  of  the  entire  order 
and  the  severance  of  business  relations.  What 
happened  was  that  no  part  of  the  order  was 
cancelled.  The  goods  were  accepted  and  the 
account  remained  on  the  books  as  long  as  the 
merchant  continued  in  business.  The  emphasis 
with  which  the  letter  scorned  any  suggestion 

I23I 


I    i 


of  departure  from  standards  for  the  sake  of 
business  gain  was  a  triumph  of  moral  force. 

When  the  firm  was  young,  Mr.  Schaffher 
gave  personal  attention  to  many  details.  He 
answered  the  important  mail,  passed  upon 
the  credits,  checked  out-going  shipments,  and 
kept  closely  in  touch  with  all  departments. 
He  thus  knew  personally  and  intimately  many 
of  the  men  who  grew  to  positions  of  great 
responsibility  in  later  years.  His  understand^ 
ing  of  them  and  their  appreciation  of  him 
were  among  the  beautiful  things  of  his  busi^ 
ness  career. 

In  the  later  years  of  his  life,  it  was  a  com^ 
mon  occurrence  for  him  to  hail  such  men  as 
they  were  passing  by  and  take  them  into  his 
office  for  a  "talk.''  Those  talks  were  bright 
spots  in  the  lives  of  the  men  who  enjoyed 
them.  In  the  most  delicate  manner,  the  ques^ 
tion  of  personal  relation  to  the  business  was 
discussed,  the  road  to  further  achievement 
was  inspiringly  pointed  out,  and  praise  and 
stimulation  were  benignantly  bestowed.  Only 

[24] 


h 


a  man  who  had  that  relationship  with  Mr. 
Schaffiier  realized  the  wonder  of  it.  No  one 
was  lost  sight  of.  The  office  boy  of  the  early 
days  who  had  become  a  man  of  responsibility 
was  held  up  to  others  as  a  shining  example. 
A  man  who  stumbled  was  given  a  helping 
hand. 

It  was  a  great  delight  to  Mr.  Schaffner 
when  he  discovered  that  any  particular  young 
man  was  growing  in  business  capacity.  That 
man  was  at  once  flooded  with  encouragement 
and  opportunity.  Frequent  excursions  were 
made  through  the  house,  from  floor  to  floor, 
to  the  salesroom,  the  order  department,  the 
back  order  floor,  the  shipping-room,  and  else- 
where,  to  chat  with  the  executives  or  with 
the  rank  and  file.  The  return  from  such  tours 
always  meant  new  thoughts  and  suggestions 
about  men  and  methods.  He  would  say,  "I 
was  in  such  and  such  a  department  today. 
That  boy  up  there  (mentioning  his  name)  is 
doing  fine  work.  Keep  your  eye  on  him  and 
give  him  more  responsibility.''  And  the  mat' 

[25I 


* 


..•I 


if 


III! 

i 


ter  was  not  dropped  with  one  suggestion;  it 
was  always  followed  up. 

At  one  time  he  was  about  to  leave  on  a 
vacation.  Shortly  before  train^time,  an  em" 
ploye  brought  him  some  routine  things  for 
his  consideration.  Mr.  Schaffher  said,  "Who 
will  decide  about  these  things  when  I  am 
away?''  The  employe  said,  "We  shall  have 
to  do  it  to  the  best  of  our  ability.''  The  reply 
was,  "You  may  start  doing  it  now  and  keep 
it  up.  Follow  your  best  judgment:  If  you 
make  mistakes,  and  you  probably  will,  I  shall 
forgive  you." 

That  was  one  of  his  qualities — the  throw- 
ing of  responsibility  on  growing  men.  An- 
other trait  was  his  absolute  and  unfailing 
support  of  any  man  who  had  made  an  honest 
effort  to  do  a  task  whether  or  not  he  was 
successful.  The  sign  of  progressiveness  on 
the  part  of  an  employe  in  undertaking  to  do 
things  and  doing  them  intelligently  was 
always  a  great  joy  to  Mr.  Schafiher.  He  did 
not  excuse  blundering;  on  the  contrary,  he 

I26J 


abhorred  it,  but  honest,  well-timed,  intelligent 
effort  always  received  praise  from  him  no 
matter  what  the  outcome. 

If  a  salesman  encountered  a  quarrelsome 
customer,  that  customer  would  be  lost  to  the 
business  rather  than  that  the  company  re- 
pudiate the  salesman.  There  was  never  any 
question  as  to  where  a  good  employe  stood 
if  he  encountered  difficulty  in  the  conscien- 
tious performance  of  his  work. 

The  attitude  and  relations  of  Mr.  Schaffner 
to  salesmen  may  perhaps  be  best  indicated  by 
their  attitude  and  relations  to  him.  One  of 
the  salesmen  expressed  what  all  the  salesmen 
thought: 

"Mr.  Schaffner  had  a  particularly  keen  eth- 
ical sense  in  dealing  with  merchants  or  with 
any  question  of  policy  which  we  might  have 
occasion  to  discuss  with  him.  He  simply 
wanted  to  know  what  was  the  right  thing, 
the  fair  thing,  to  do  and  then  he  tried  to  do 
that.  He  did  make  mistakes,  sometimes.  I  re- 
member on  one  occasion  a  number  of  the 

[27I 


* 


' 


salesmen  had  done  something  of  which  he 
did  not  approve.  It  was  in  a  sense  a  purely 
personal  matter  with  these  salesmen— noth' 
ing  directly  connected  with  business. 

"But  Mr.  Schaffner  always  had  a  fatherly 
feeling  toward  'the  boys/  as  he  always  called 
us;  and  he  took  it  upon  himself  in  this  case 
to  call  these  men  into  his  ofEce  one  at  a  time 
and  admonish  them,  somewhat  severely  they 
felt.  He  talked  very  plainly  to  them;  as  one 
of  them  put  it  'he  raked  me  over  the  coals 
pretty  roughly.' 

"The  next  day,  each  of  these  men  was 
again  summoned  to  Mr.  Schaffner's  desk,  and 
something  to  this  effect  was  said:  'I  told  Mrs. 
Schaffner  last  night,  after  I  reached  home, 
what  I  had  said  to  you  yesterday,  and  she 
said  I  was  entirely  wrong;  that  in  a  matter  so 
personal  as  that  you  had  a  right  to  do  as 
you  pleased,  and  that  I  had  no  right  to  scold 
you  as  I  did.  I  believe  she's  right  about  it; 
my  motive  was  good  but  I  was  wrong  and  I 
want  to  apologi^ie." 

I28] 


"It  was  this  sense  of  fairness  which  en- 
deared the  man  to  us;  it  was  his  acute  per- 
ception  of  'the  right  thing'  which  everyone 
liked.  It  was  such  a  policy  in  business  which 
did  so  much  to  raise  the  general  standard  of 
business  ethics  not  only  here  among  us  but 
generally  throughout  the  clothing  trade.'" 

"I  never  went  to  Mr.  Schafiher  to  talk 
about  my  problems  and  difficulties  as  a  sales- 
man," said  another  member  of  the  selling 
force,  "that  I  did  not  come  from  the  inter- 
view encouraged  and  made  to  feel  that  I  was 
a  better  man;  that  I  could  overcome  any  ob- 
stacle. I  believe  that  every  man  who  talked 
with  him  had  a  similar  feeling;  and  many  of 
them  have  said  that  a  half  hour's  talk  with 
Mr.  Schaffner  made  them  feel  a  sense  of  part- 
nership in  the  business. 

"The  letters  written  by  Mr.  Schaffner  to 
'the  boys'  were  also  a  great  inspiration;  all  of 
our  salesmen  will  agree  with  me  when  I  say 
that  many  times  after  a  disappointing  day, 
when  I  felt  blue  and  discouraged,  a  letter 

[29] 


i;»t! 


-f    r  li     iliftii 


I 


from  Mr.  Schafiher  woiild  come  and  it  would 
revive  and  rejuvenate  my  spirits  and  make 
me  feel  able  to  conquer  anything.  He  was  a 
master  of  inspiration.'" 

By  conversation  and  by  his  letters— Mr. 
Schafiher's  letters  are  considered  in  a  chapter 
by  themselves — he  stimulated,  encouraged, 
admonished  his  salesmen.  He  often  said  that 
the  best  way  to  get  a  man  to  do  anything 
that  had  to  be  done  was  to  express  belief  in 
his  ability  to  do  it. 

In  the  delicate  matter  of  credit,  Mr.  Schaff" 
ner  was  both  strict  and  liberal.  Being  himself 
a  man  young  in  spirit  he  had  great  faith  in 
young  men  and  older  men  of  youthful  ideas. 
He  examined  character  and  integrity  more 
closely  than  financial  resources.  He  constantly 
said,  "When  you  find  a  young  man  who  wants 
to  go  into  business,  don't  worry  too  much 
about  his  capital.  If  he's  the  right  kind  of  man, 
give  him  a  chance;  he'll  make  good  for  you." 
There  are  many  accounts  on  the  books  of 
the  firm  today  which  were  refused  credit  by 

I30J 


other  manufacturers  but  accepted  by  Mr. 
Schafiher  on  his  confidence  in  character  and 
his  keen  judgment  of  men.  His  belief  in  the 
"average  of  honesty"  was  strong  and  he  often 
cautioned  against  too  great  rigidity. 

"How  much  would  you  lose,"  he  some- 
times said,  "if  you  shipped  without  question 
every  dollar's  worth  of  goods  anybody  wants 
to  buy  from  you?"  He  often  discussed  this 
matter  at  length  and  mentioned  instance  after 
instance  of  weak  concerns  made  strong  by 
right  treatment.  He  strove  to  show  to  the 
credit  department  that  it  was  not  a  wise 
policy  to  scan  prospective  accounts  so  closely 
that  every  possible  chance  of  loss  was  elimi- 
nated.  He  held  that  the  only  way  to  make 
volume  of  business  is  to  trust  men  of  char- 
acter and  guide  them  in  the  wise  conduct  of 
their  business. 

His  theories  of  credit  were  fully  justified; 
no  "credit  man"  in  the  world  had  a  larger 
percentage  of  "discounters"  than  he.  After  a 
serious  talk  on  this  vital  subject  on  one  occa^ 

[31 1 


r 


sion  Mr.  Schaffner  shot  a  ray  of  humor 
through  the  discussion  by  saying,  "I  some^ 
times  think  thit  our  concern  can  get  along 
almost  as  well  with  a  credit  man  as  it  could 
without  one/^ 

When  a  failure  occurred  which  could  not 
be  satisfactorily  explained,  such  a  merchant 
did  not  find  it  easy  to  make  a  settlement.  Mr. 
Schaffner  believed  that  an  easy  settlement 
encouraged  failures.  But  if  a  merchant  had 
been  merely  unfortunate  through  circum^ 
stances  over  which  he  had  no  control,  he  re^ 
ceived  without  question  warm  support  and 
aid.  There  are  many  merchants  who  are  tO' 
day  prosperous  because,  at  the  critical  time, 
they  received  the  needed  support.  One  in^ 
stance  of  this  policy  will  illustrate  many 
others. 

An  old,  conservative,  retail  clothing  con^ 
cern,  owned  by  a  man  in  middle  life,  a  fine 
type  of  the  gentleman  in  business,  was  given 
a  severe  blow  by  a  disastrous  fire  which  prac' 
tically  wiped  him  out.  It  was  found,  after  this 

I32I 


m 


catastrophe,  that  the  head  of  the  concern, 
good  business  man  as  he  was,  had  made  a  very 
serious  blunder,  as  good  business  men  some^ 
times  do.  He  had  allowed  some  of  his  insur^ 
ance  to  lapse  and  the  loss  by  fire  was  a  serious 
one.  The  problem  for  this  man  was  a  difficult 
one  to  meet.  How  could  he  resume  business 
with  his  capital  and  assets  so  badly  impaired? 
He  came  to  see  Mr.  Schaffiier,  accompanied 
by  his  young  junior  partner.  They  came  "hop- 
ing against  hope'';  the  average  manufacturing 
concern  would  have  been  sorry  for  them  and 
would  have  expressed  sympathy  and  let  it  go 
at  that;  there  was  nothing  in  their  financial 
position  to  recommend  them. 

Mr.  Schaffner  met  these  downcast  men 
with  cheerful  optimism  and,  after  a  long, 
friendly  talk  and  counsel,  he  said  to  the  mer- 
chant, "You  may  go  to  the  sales  floor  and  buy 
as  much  merchandise  as  you  want,  and  we 
will  ship  it  at  once.  Go  back  to  your  home; 
get  your  new  store  ready,  and  we'll  have  the 
goods  there  for  the  opening.'' 

I33I 


II 


I      I 


The  result  was  so  unexpected  to  the  mer- 
chant that,  when  it  fairly  dawned  on  him 
that  his  business  life  was  literally  being  saved, 
he  bowed  his  head  on  his  hands  and  burst 
into  tears.  The  junior  partner,  a  young  man 
of  great  loyalty  to  his  elder  associate,  was 
equally  affected.  The  men  were  of  fine  natures 
and  both  had  been  under  a  great  strain  and 
to  have  this  lifted  and  to  feel  themselves  back 
in  business  again,  standing  before  the  world 
as  they  had  always  stood,  was  so  great  a  re- 
Uef  that  it  could  be  expressed  only  by  the 
emotions. 

Mr.  Schaffiier,  in  referring  to  the  matter 
later,  justified  his  action  by  saying,  "It  wasn  t 
that  I  was  sorry  for  the  man— anybody  would 
have  been  sorry  for  him;  but  sympathy  is  not 
a  good  basis  for  a  large  credit.  I  got  at  the 
heart  of  the  man;  I  saw  what  he  was,  and  I 
believed  in  what  he  could  do.  I  wasn  t  really 
taking  a  very  great  risk.''    ' 

His  judgment  was  confirmed.  The  concern, 
in  a  new  store,  with  a  new  stock,  stimulated 

I34] 


by  the  hope  of  new  success,  quickly  justified 
the  confidence  placed  in  it. 

In  these  and  other  ways,  Mr.  Schaffner 
spread  abroad  his  beneficent  influence  upon 
all  with  whom  he  had  relations. 

To  a  man  of  his  conspicuous  success,  it 
was  inevitable  that  opportunities  for  public 
service  should  come.  There  were  two  things 
that  prevented  him  firom  doing  much  work 
of  a  public  nature.  One  was  his  absolute 
passion  for  the  business.  He  believed  that  a 
man  could  contribute  most  to  his  city  or  his 
country  by  achieving  results  in  whatever  he 
undertook.  He  believed  that,  in  building  up 
a  big  business  which  really  served,  a  man 
rendered  a  public  service  more  truly  than  ii 
he  undertook  many  public  functions  and  neg- 
lected his  business.  Even  realising  that  his 
tremendous  ability,  applied  in  any  direction, 
would  have  had  results,  we  can  all  now  see 
that  it  would  have  been  a  distinct  loss  had 
he  diverted  his  mind  from  the  business  to 
outside  enterprises. 

[35I 


III 

III 


■  I   -ifc ■ 


I' 


II 


The  second  thing  that  prevented  him  from 
accepting  honors  was  his  great  modesty,  not 
that  he  misunderstood  or  was  unmindful  of 
honest  praise.  While  he  abhorred  flattery,  he 
liked  to  feel  that  the  things  he  did  or  that 
the  business  did  were  understood  and  truly 
valued.  Coupled  with  that,  however,  was  a 
natural  shrinking  from  being  personaUy  con^ 
spicuous.  Although  he  had  a  fine,  commanding 
voice,  nothing  could  induce  him  to  make  a 
public  address.  His  aversion  to  doing  so 
amounted  almost  to  an  obsession,  so  that  his 
public  appearances  were  rare. 

There  were  intimations  conveyed  to  him 
from  time  to  time  that,  if  he  would  express  a 
willingness,  appointments  carrying  with  them 
high  honor  might  come  to  him,  but  he  dis^ 
couraged  all  such  thoughts.  He  accepted  one 
bank  directorship  and  was  very  conscientious 
in  the  performance  of  his  duties  but  found  it 
required  more  of  his  energy  than  he  was  able 
to  give.  He  had  other  opportunities  to  be" 
come  associated  with  leading  financial  institu^ 

I36I 


tions  and  he  was  frequently  mentioned  for 
high  appointments.  While  he  felt  it  was  a 
fine  thing  on  the  part  of  men  who  could  per" 
form  such  duties  to  render  such  service,  he 
could  not  have  failed  to  recogni2;e  that  a  far 
greater  opportunity  for  service  lay  in  the 
course  that  he  followed. 


I37I 


11 


liii 


THE  BUSINESS  MAN-II 


mm 


HE  progressive  character  of  his 
mind  made  it  natural  that  Mr. 
Schaffher  should  grasp  quickly  the 
possibilities  of  publicity  when  ap^ 


plied  to  business.  It  was  a  sign  of  his  calibre 
that  all  through  his  business  life  he  caught  the 
importance  of  new  forces  and  utilized  them 
before  most  men  were  ready  to  accept  them. 
In  the  nineties,  the  education  of  the  public  as 
to  the  value  of  goods  was  for  the  most  part 
carried  on  in  a  crude  and  desultory  way.  He 
foresaw  the  possibilities  of  this  great  force  and 
its  application  became  an  activity  in  which 
he  felt  the  keenest  and  liveliest  interest. 

The  first  efforts  in  publicity  aroused  some 
curiosity  but  more  skepticism  in  the  trade. 
Some  of  the  old-timers  smiled  indulgently  to 
see  a  young  business  house  squandering,  as 
they  thought,  its  hard-earned  profits  in  news- 
paper and  maga2;ine  space.  They  said  that  it 

I39I 


ill 


was  an  expensive  way  to  gratify  pride,  but 
it  wasn't  their  money,  so  they  at  least  would 
not  be  the  suflferers. 

In  talking  about  the  general  attitude  of  the 
trade  at  the  time  of  the  first  eflforts  made  to 
educate  the  consumer,  a  dean  of  the  advertis- 
ing fraternity  gave  this  personal  observation: 

"Mr.  Schaffher  was  the  object  of  much 
curiosity  and  some  sympathy  when  he  began 
advertising.  One  of  his  competitors  met  him 
one  day  and  mentioned  the  matter.  This  com- 
petitor said  if  a  man  wanted  to  throw  money 
in  the  lake  it  was  a  fine  way  to  go  about  it. 
Mr.  Schafeer  agreed  that  it  cost  money,  all 
right.  About  a  year  after  the  same  man  was 
encountered  again.  He  said,  *I  see  you  are 
still  giving  some  of  your  profits  to  the  pub- 
lishers." Mr.  Schaffner  admitted  the  charge 
and  also  acknowledged  on  being  pressed  that 
he  was  not  able  directly  to  measure  the  re- 
turn from  the  expenditure.  After  a  few  more 
years,  those  interested  began  to  show  anxiety 
about  the  matter.  The  expenditure  had  in- 

I40I 


"^ 


f< 


creased  year  after  year  and  the  supposed  reck- 
lessness of  the  venture  began  to  take  on  a 
new  aspect.  It  was  beginning  to  dawn  on  the 
industry  that  a  new  force  was  at  work;  there 
were  unmistakable  signs  of  a  new  leadership. 
It  took  a  few  years  for  it  to  permeate  and  by 
the  time  the  effect  of  advertising  on  the  pub- 
lic was  frilly  recogni2;ed  in  the  industry  Mr. 
Schafiher's  work  had  progressed  far/' 

In  an  article  by  Mr.  Schaffher,  written  at 
the  request  of  the  editor  of  a  leading  business 
m2^a2;ine  and  published  in  its  issue  of  Febru- 
ary, 191 5,  he  referred  to  his  use  of  publicity 
in  these  words: 

"When  I  first  became  associated  with  my 
partners,  their  high  ideals  of  business,  their 
devotion  to  the  work  they  had  undertaken, 
their  ethical  sense  of  obligation  to  those  who 
bought  and  wore  their  goods,  their  strong 
purpose  to  give  value,  their  pride  in  the  qual- 
ity of  their  product— these  things  impressed 
me  as  profoundly  as  they  had  impressed  others. 
Our  national  advertising  grew  out  of  a  desire 

[41] 


to  tell  everybody  what  these  men  had  done 
and  were  doing.  The  advertising  began  in  a 
small  way;  about  $5,000  was  the  extent  of  our 
first  year's  appropriation  and  that  seemed  a 
good  deal  at  that  time.  We  were  told  very 
frankly  by  other  manufacturers  and  by  re^ 
tailers  that  advertising  would  not  pay  us. 
One  of  our  customers  who  now  owns  several 
very  important  retail  stores  could  not  then  be 
convinced  that  our  advertising  would  help 
his  sales;  he  did  not  beUeve  that  we  could 
draw  people  to  his  store  for  our  goods.  It 
wasn't  long  after  when  this  man  discovered 
that  the  public  was  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
our  clothes  and  a  belief  in  their  quality.  Ad^ 
vertising  increased  our  volume;  volume  has 
enabled  us  to  increase  our  value^giving,  both 
by  lower  prices  and  by  putting  more  quality 
into  the  goods.  Advertising  has  been,  and  is, 
an  economy.**' 

Mr.  Schaffner's  temperament  and  his  broad 
knowledge  of  good  literature  made  him  an  in^ 
valuable  critic  and  guide  for  the  men  who 

[42] 


wrote  "copy.''  His  criticism  was  pointed  and 
always  constructive;  he  had  a  keen  sense  of 
the  merits  of  a  well-written  phrase  or  para^ 
graph  and,  when  he  suggested  a  change  in  the 
wording  of  an  advertisement,  it  was  always 
an  improvement. 

He  frequently  wrote  an  advertisement  him- 
self  and  submitted  it,  in  a  half-apologetic  way, 
to  the  members  of  the  staflf  and  was  always 
genuinely  pleased  when  his  work  was  ap- 
proved by  them.  It  indicated  the  fine  spirit 
which  he  showed  toward  all  of  us,  that  he 
accepted  criticism  of  his  own  writing  exactly 
as  he  gave  it  to  ours.  Very  often  he  would 
take  the  "copy"  for  an  advertisement  and 
with  his  own  hand  re-write  a  paragraph  or 
change  a  word  here  and  there,  and  then  say, 
with  a  laugh,  "Now  we  have  made  a  very 
good  advertisement." 

He  possessed  in  a  very  marked  degree  the 
fine  quality  which  enables  a  man  to  take  "the 
other  fellow's"  point  of  view — one  of  the  es- 
sential qualifications  for  writing  good  advep 

[43] 


Ill 


If 


i 


tising.  He  was  able  thus  to  express  himself 
quite  impartially  and  in  a  manner  that  carried 
conviction. 

From  the  first,  the  advertising  employed 
illustrations  to  a  very  large  extent.  It  was 
determined  that  the  pictures  used  should  be 
of  high  character  artistically;  and  he  gave 
close  attention  to  this  phase  of  pubUcity. 
Although  not  as  expert  a  critic  of  art  as  he 
was  of  hterature,  he  had  a  keen  feeling  for 
artistic  things,  and  was  always  deeply  inter- 
ested  in  good  composition  and  fine  color 
effects.  He  gathered  about  him  in  this  branch 
of  the  advertising  work  men  of  much  ability, 
artists  of  high  standing;  he  led  them  to  feel 
that  they  were  not  debasing  their  art  by  mak- 
ing it  serve  the  ends  of  business;  he  listened 
thoughtfully  and  patiently  to  those  who  were 
trained  to  judge  of  such  matters.  He  had  the 
greatest  respect  for  trained  men  in  any  field. 
His  natural  sense  of  artistic  values  was  rapidly 
developed  by  the  study  of  art  in  advertising 
and  his  grasp  of  it  grew  as  years  passed. 

[44I 


In  illustrations  of  clothing  he  did  not  want 
the  smooth,  unwrinkled  effects  which  were 
then  so  common  on  "tailors'  style  charts.'' 
He  wanted  men  shown  Tvhose  faces  had  char- 
acter,  whose  bodies  were  human  and  real. 
He  permitted  his  artists  to  draw  the  clothes 
and  the  men  as  they  really  were.  When  an 
artist  produced  something  good,  in  color  or  in 
black  and  white,  no  matter  how  new  or  ad-, 
vanced  it  might  seem,  it  never  failed  to  receive 
Mr.  Schaffner  s  approval,  and  in  such  matters 
time  usually  proved  that  his  judgment  was 
correct. 

He  was  convinced  that  good  advertising 
would  not  only  increase  sales  but  that  it 
would  help  to  raise  the  general  standards  of 
quality  in  the  merchandise  and  improve  the 
policies  throughout  the  industry.  He  believed 
advertising  would  eventually  make  possible 
large-scale  production,  thereby  reducing  costs 
to  the  minimum.  He  once  said,  when  the 
question  of  the  amount  of  advertising  appro- 
priation was  under  discussion,  "When  we 

I45I 


■_^->*- 


i 


want  to  reduce  expenses,  we  increase  the  ad" 
vertising  appropriation/' 

The  first  attempts  at  advertising,  however, 
were  not  very  impressive.  It  was  a  new 
field  and  he  entered  it  cautiously.  He  often 
laughed,  in  later  years,  at  these  small  begin- 
nings; and  occasionally,  when  authorizing  an 
expenditure  of  many  thousands  of  dollars, 
would  refer  to  those  beginning  days  when  he 
thought  $i,ooo  was  a  large  sum  to  spend.  He 
learned  advertising  by  doing  it;  his  mind 
grasped  its  meaning  and  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciples very  quickly.  He  was  a  "progressive'' 
advertiser  from  the  first. 

As  the  general  theory  and  philosophy  of 
advertising  grew  more  clear  in  his  mind,  he 
vigorously  sought  to  encourage  advertising  of 
a  better  type  on  the  part  of  retail  merchants. 
Under  his  guidance  there  was  built  up  a  ser- 
vice which  became,  as  the  years  passed,  one 
of  the  phenomena  of  business.  Advertise- 
ments were  prepared  under  his  direction 
which  retail  merchants  were  glad  to  use  as 

[46I 


their  own  or  adapt  to  their  business,  and  by 
this  means  better  policies  and  higher  stand- 
ards of  business  were  encouraged.  In  this  and 
in  other  ways,  the  influence  of  the  man  made 
itself  felt  throughout  the  country.  He  en- 
couraged his  customers  constantly  to  do  more 
as  well  as  better  advertising. 

On  one  occasion,  he  wrote  to  a  merchant 
who  was  inclined  to  curtail  his  advertising 
expenditure  on  a  mistaken  idea  of  economy: 
"Our  idea  in  advertising  has  not  been  to 
give  a  testimonial  of  good  will,  when  business 
is  good,  to  newspapers  that  need  money, 
but  to  increase  our  sales;  and  we  have  con- 
sequently swelled  our  advertising  whenever 
the  prospects  were  gloomy.  Our  policy  in  bad 
times  has  been  redoubled  efforts. 

"The  other  theory— of  feeling  that  you  can 
afford  to  advertise  only  when  you  are  making 
a  lot  of  money— places  advertising  on  the 
basis  of  charity,  pure  and  simple.  If  this  were 
so,  the  great  national  businesses  of  today 
would  not  exist.  But  advertising  is  far  from 

U7I 


f » 


Ill 


charity.  It  is  an  investment  on  which  the  first 
dividend  is  sometimes  deferred  but  which  has 
its  return  compounded. 

"If  you  were  a  farmer  and  had  some  poor 
land,  you  would  not  devote  half  the  care  to 
that  land  that  you  regularly  devoted  to  your 
better  land,  but  would  double  the  amount. 
When  there  is  a  prospect  of  a  poor  year, 
normality  will  be  secured  not  by  neglect  but 
by  extra  eflForts. 

"There  is  no  system  that  we  know  of  by 
which  you  can  discriminate  between  the  peo^ 
pie  who  are  future  customers  and  the  people 
who  are  not.  If  there  were,  it  would  certainly 
revolutionize  business.'^ 

He  felt  strongly  that  the  national  advertise 
ing  he  directed  had  created  a  great  good  will 
for  the  concern  and  its  merchandise;  and  that 
retail  merchants  who  sold  the  clothes  ought 
to  utili2;e  that  asset  in  their  own  advertising. 
He  constantly  preached  that  idea  to  them. 

He  said  to  a  merchant:  "We  have  never 
considered  advertising  an  expense;  it  has 

[48I 


always  proved  to  be  an  economy.  It  has  given 
us  immense  volume;  has  kept  down  our  man^ 
ufecturing  costs  on  that  account,  as  well  as 
our  overhead.  The  same  principle  applies  to 
the  dealer  in  each  community  where  our 
goods  are  sold.'" 

To  another  merchant  he  said:  "It  is  some' 
what  difficult  for  merchants,  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  a  certain  fixed  idea  as  to  the 
amount  of  profit  that  one  is  entitled  to  in  re^ 
lation  to  expense,  to  change  their  viewpoint, 
just  as  some  of  them  hesitate  about  spending 
money  for  advertising  because  their  busi' 
nesses  do  not  justify  more  than  a  certain  ex' 
penditure.  But  if  they  make  the  investment 
in  publicity,  even  for  beyond  what  the  cur^ 
rent  business  warrants,  the  experience  of 
those  who  have  tried  it  proves  that  the  vol' 
ume  soon  overtakes  the  appropriation  and 
reduces  the  cost  of  advertising  by  the  in^ 
creased  profits.  It  takes  some  courage  to  do 
these  things,  but  one  soon  becomes  bolder  as 
one  reali2;es  the  impetus  it  gives  to  business.'' 

[49I 


B! 


One  characteristic  of  Mr.  Schafiher's  rek" 
tion  to  the  advertising  was  the  frequency 
with  which  he  suggested  and  approved  the 
preparation  of  "advertising  which  did  not  ad- 
vertise/' Booklets  on  "Courage,"  on  "En- 
thusiasm/' on  "Co-operation,''  and  on  many 
similar  subjects  were  issued  which  did  not 
directly  advertise  clothing;  in  many  cases  the 
only  reference  to  Hart  Schafiher  6?  Marx  in 
the  booklet  was  the  company's  imprint  on 
the  title  page.  These  booklets  were  inspira- 
tional in  character  and  widely  read.  Mr. 
Schafiher  often  said  to  his  advertising  men, 
with  a  gentle  smile,  "Don't  always  try  to  sell 
clothes;  let  this  go  through  without  any 
^clothes'  in  it— just  be  helpful,  if  we  can,  in 
developing  better  business  ideas." 

In  one  of  these  booklets  he  preached  a 
much-needed  sermon  on  dignity  in  business. 
He  said: 

"The  clothing  merchant  of  the  present  day 
sustains  a  relation  to  his  community  of  con- 
siderable importance.   The  clothes  a  man 

[50I 


wears  are  to  some  extent  a  true  index  of  his 
character  and  tastes;  but  they're  also  an  in- 
fluence upon  his  character  and  tastes;  they 
affect  in  an  unconscious  and  more  or  less 
indirect  way  his  standir^  in  the  community. 
This  being  true,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
clothing  man  has  a  duty  to  his  fellow-citi2;ens 
which  ought  not  to  be  neglected  or  treated 
lightly;  and  a  part  of  that  duty  is  to  maintain 
his  own  dignity  in  the  business,  to  lead  his 
customers  to  regard  clothes  and  clothes-buy- 
ing as  a  matter  of  importance.  When  a 
clothing  merchant  reaches  the  point  of  seeing 
that  dignity  in  business  pays,  that  his  duty 
as  a  merchant  to  his  customers  is  a  higher 
one  than  merely  selling  merchandise,  that  he 
ought  to  serve  them  as  well  as  sell  to  them, 
and  that  his  highest  service  and  value  to  his 
community  is  to  see  that  the  men  in  it  wear 
the  kind  of  clothes  that  are  really  best  for 
them— when  he  gets  these  things  once  settled 
in  his  mind,  he  generally  attains  success  and 
with  it  a  high  degree  of  gratification." 

[51I 


I 


ll 


I 


:rl 


It  was  a  matter  of  much  pride  to  Mr. 
Schaffiier  when  one  of  these  booklets,  with 
the  title  "Enthusiasm,"  not  an  advertisement 
but  an  argument  for  the  value  of  enthusiasm 
in  business,  brought  letters  from  heads  of 
large  concerns  in  other  lines  of  business  who 
had  seen  the  booklet  and  who  asked  for  fifty 
or  a  hundred  or  more  copies,  for  use  among 
their  own  employes. 

Every  now  and  then  he  did  a  sudden  and 
unexpected  thing  which  for  a  time  brought 
consternation  to  the  advertising  staff,  but 
which  proved  in  the  end  to  be  one  of  those 
daring  master'Strokes  of  business  which 
seemed  intuitive  with  him.  One  such  expe- 
rience recurs  to  us.  It  arose  out  of  a  question 
of  the  price  at  which  the  clothes  were  sold 
at  retail.  Retailers  insisted  that  they  had  to 
sell  lower'priced  clothes;  that  many  of  their 
customers  would  not  pay  more  than  a  certain 
price  for  a  suit  and  the  figure  mentioned  was 
lower  than  any  goods  that  were  being  pro- 
duced  by  the  company.  Salesmen  too  were 

I  52] 


clamoring  for  a  lower-priced  suit.  They  said: 
"If  you  will  give  us  a  suit  to  sell  at  this  lower 
price,  we'll  capture  the  whole  market." 

The  manufacturing  chiefs  refused  to  make 
clothes  as  low-priced  as  this  demand  called 
for.  "It  cannot  be  done,"  they  said,  "if  we 
maintain  our  standards  of  quality  in  materials 
and  workmanship."  And  there  the  matter 
stood.  Merchants  and  salesmen  were  disap' 
pointed  and  felt  a  little  rebellious;  the  mer' 
chandisers  of  the  business  were  resolute. 
Under  these  conditions  was  begun  the  prep- 
aration of  the  season's  advertising  campaign, 
avoiding  as  carefully  as  possible  this  "low- 
price"  subject.  The  copy  for  the  campaign 
was  finished  and  waiting  for  Mr.  Schafiher's 
final  reading  and  approval  when  business 
called  him  away.  He  was  gone  about  ten 
days.  Immediately  upon  his  return  he  called 
the  advertising  heads  together  and  said: 

"I  have  decided  on  the  best  way  to  meet 
this  low-price  clamor.  We  shall  put  out  an 
advertising  campaign  at  once  telling  the  pub- 


. 


■I 


I 


II 


M 


lie  that  true  economy  in  buying  clothes  is  in 
paying  $ — ''  (naming  a  price  $io  above  the 
low  price  urged  by  retailers).  "Instead  of  try^ 
ing  to  compete  with  these  cheaper  goods  we 
shall  go  in  the  opposite  direction.  We  shall 
discard  the  advertising  already  prepared  and 
get  ready  new  copy  on  this  new  idea/' 

When  this  was  announced  and  the  first 
of  the  advertisements  appeared,  there  was 
great  dismay  among  merchants  and  salesmen. 
Nearly  all  of  them  thought  it  was  a  mistake; 
some  said  it  was  folly.  But  the  event  proved 
that  the  course  was  not  only  sound  as  a  busi- 
ness pohcy  but  it  was,  more  than  that,  a 
stroke  of  genius. 

Mr.  Schafiher  s  faith  in  "common  honesty'' 
was  shown  by  the  wording  of  the  guaranty 
issued  by  the  firm.  He  wrote  as  follows  to  a 
retailer: 

"A  guaranty  that  is  limited  by  a  bill  of  ex- 
ceptions is  not  a  guaranty  at  all,  so  far  as  the 
pubHc  is  concerned.  The  guaranty  of  our 
clothes  is  outright  and  is  written  in  as  clear 

l54l 


and  decisive  terms  as  we  can  express  them. 
There  are  no  mental  reservations  behind  it 
or  qualifications  of  any  kind  whatsoever.  It 
is  impossible  to  promise  perfection  in  any 
human  product;  we  are  not  infallible;  we  take 
every  precaution  to  avoid  errors;  but  we  do 
not  think  it  is  fair  to  expect  anybody  else  to 
pay  for  our  mistakes.  Even  if  our  work  is  per- 
fect, the  man  who  buys  our  clothes  may  not 
be  satisfied;  we  guarantee  and  intend  to  guar- 
antee his  satisfaction;  and  his  idea  of  what 
'satisfaction'  means  decides  it,  not  ours.  Sat- 
isfaction is  a  mental,  not  a  material,  condition. 
We  do  not  guarantee  the  goods;  we  guar- 
antee satisfaction.  A  man  may  wear  a  gar. 
ment  for  a  month  or  two  months  or  even 
three  and  get  considerable  service  out  of  it, 
yet  if  a  garment  does  not  prove  to  be  what 
the  consumer  has  a  right  to  expect,  it  is  only 
fair  that  his  complaint  should  be  given  the 
broadest  interpretation  and  that  he  should 
receive  his  money  back.  This  is  the  idea  that 
we  have  expressed  in  our  own  guaranty.  We 

t55l 


!  I 


t 


''  '( 


i;- 


\'  • 


;! 


I  : 


are  not  trying  to  do  merely  legal  or  technical 
justice;  we  want  to  do  *the  fair  thing';  we 
should  much  rather  be  unfair  to  ourselves, 
if  necessary,  than  unfair  to  the  man  who 
thought  he  was  buying  satisfaction  in  our 
goods  and  found  he  was  not  getting  it.  Our 
guaranty  explicitly  proposes  to  satisfy  the 
mental  attitude  of  the  consumer,  even  if  it 
has  to  be  done  at  some  expense;  but  we  con^ 
sider  that  there  is  no  other  way  to  establish 
a  firm  foundation  for  public  confidence.'' 

Mr.  Schaffher  had  so  much  confidence  in 
the  force  of  advertising  that  he  sometimes 
expressed  extreme  views  on  it.  In  a  letter 
from  Atlantic  City,  where  he  was  enjoying  a 
rest,  he  wrote  regarding  the  amount  of  news- 
paper space  to  be  used: 

"There  is  no  use  in  taking  too  many  bites 
at  a  cherry;  swallow  it  at  one  gulp.  I  know 
you  will  come  back  with  figures  showing 
added  cost,  but  what  difference  does  it  make 
if  you  get  your  returns  so  much  more  fully? 
Let's  do  something  sensational  and  forget 

[56I 


about  the  cost  until  the  returns  are  in  next 
December.  I  know  you  will  think  I  am  the 
victim  of  the  last  man  I  consult.  I  am  always 
ready  to  revise  any  opinion  I  have,  if  I  find 
anything  better,  and  that's  my  present  con- 
viction about  the  value  of  big  space." 

And  again  on  the  same  subject  a  day  or 
two  later: 

"You  boys  are  *tight-wads'  and  that  is  your 
strong  recommendation  for  the  positions  you 
occupy;  but  I  know  you  are  willing  to  spend 
a  dollar  if  you  can  get  back  a  dollar  fifty;  and 
it's  on  this  basis  that  we  must  view  it." 

There  are  numerous  instances  in  which 
Mr.  Schaffner's  steady  optimism  as  to  the 
value  of  advertising  and  his  constant  encour- 
agement led  a  merchant  out  of  difficulty  into 
success.  A  man  with  a  small  amount  of  capital 
but  with  a  desire  to  do  a  high-class  business 
took  a  larger  store,  at  greater  rental,  and  put 
in  a  large  stock  of  fine  merchandise.  For  sev- 
eral years  he  fought  an  up-hill  battle  for  suc- 
cess; discouraged,  he  came  many  times  to  talk 

I57] 


i: 


J.     I 


with  Mr.  Schaffner,  who  said:  "Keep  on; 
you  re  on  the  right  track;  the  results  of  such 
methods  are  certain;  don  t  weaken.  Do  more 
advertising.""  He  made  the  merchant  believe 
in  himself. 

His  efforts  in  leading  merchants  in  this 
direction  constitute  a  great  and  lasting  serv" 
ice.  His  feeling  was  that  by  making  a  man 
subscribe  to  certain  principles  you  really  force 
him  to  live  up  to  them  and  thus  make  him  a 
better  man  and  merchant.  In  everything  that 
was  sent  to  merchants  there  was  a  note  of 
inspiration.  He  was  happy  if  he  could  lead  a 
man  to  set  forth  in  his  advertising  a  better 
and  stronger  policy.  He  would  say  frequently: 
"Now,  if  I  can  only  get  that  man  to  say  this 
over  and  over  again,  I  shall  make  him  believe 
in  it  and  Uve  up  to  it,  and  he  will  have  a 
better  business.'"  So  he  put  into  many  men"s 
minds  certain  thoughts  and  expressions  of  an 
ethical  and  moral  nature  that  had  an  ines^ 
timable  influence  in  elevating  the  standards 
of  the  retail  clothing  business. 

[58I 


THE  LETTERS  HE  WROTE 


IS  letters  were  a  literary  achieve- 
ment. In  comparison  with  the 
average  business  compositions  of 
the  day,  they  were  pearls  of  great 
price.  He  wrote  easily  and  fluently  and  always 
his  correspondence  showed  more  of  a  desire 
to  serve  and  benefit  his  correspondent  than 
to  gain  something  for  himself. 

Hundreds  of  his  letters  are  today  kept  and 
treasured  by  happy  and  grateful  recipients, 
not  alone  for  their  quality  and  beauty  but  for 
the  hope  and  inspiration  which  they  carried 
in  their  lines.  It  happened  often  that  some 
man  who  had  received  one  of  these  beautiful 
letters  would  say,  "I  don"t  suppose  you  re- 
member the  letter  that  you  wrote  me  five 
years  ago,  but  I  want  to  teU  you  that  it  was 
the  finest  letter  I  ever  received  in  my  life  and 
i  have  put  it  where  I  can  preserve  it  for  my 
self  and  show  it  to  my  children."" 

[59I 


11 


li 


i«  i 


\i 


Si 


Lt 


Mr.  Schaffiier  sensed  psychological  effects 
intuitively.  He  went  straight  to  the  core  of 
a  subject  with  unerring  accuracy.  His  reason- 
ing was  clear  and  direct;  illustrations  were 
apt  and  vivid,  and  a  touch  of  familiarity  was 
added  here  and  there  which  had  a  perfectly 
winning  effect  upon  the  reader. 

The  scope  of  his  letters  was  unlimited. 
They  touched  financing,  publicity,  merchan- 
dising, management,  personal  conduct,  busi- 
ness ethics,  labor,  education  and  every  form 
of  business  problem. 

How  vividly  we  can  see  him  at  his  desk, 
dictating  in  his  characteristic,  vigorous  way! 
He  talked  rapidly  and  hesitated  only  when 
he  wanted  a  word  to  express  the  nicest  shade 
of  meaning.  Then,  once  over  the  point  of 
hesitation,  there  would  follow  a  flow  of 
words  almost  too  rapid  for  the  stenographer. 
His  vocabulary  constantly  grew  and  it  was 
always  a  delight  to  him  when  he  found  a  new 
word  that  would  add  force  or  meaning  to 
his  letters. 

[6ol 


When  his  indignation  was  once  aroused,  he 
could  not  wait,  but  would  walk  to  the  desk  of 
the  stenographer  and  pour  forth  his  thoughts 
with  great  vehemence.  Sometimes  it  was  nec- 
essary, as  a  matter  of  business  policy,  to  ex- 
tract some  of  the  fire  from  such  letters,  but 
in  their  original  form  they  were  a  genius  of 
force  which  no  tempering  could  improve. 

His  letters  to  merchants  always  inspired 
to  better  things  in  business;  sometimes  they 
praised;  sometimes  they  criticised — often 
severely;  but  always  the  spirit  was  friendly, 
appreciative  of  what  he  thought  was  good, 
and  condemning  what  he  thought  was  bad. 

To  one  he  wrote  regarding  a  fair  margin 
of  profit: 

"It  isn  t  always  necessary  to  get  big  profits 
in  order  to  be  successful.  We  believe  in  the 
reverse  plan,  and  while  we  know  it  takes  a 
certain  amount  of  profit  to  make  a  business 
pay,  it  takes  a  good  deal  less  profit  than  people 
imagine  if  they  handle  the  problem  in  the 
right  way.'' 

[6il 


t 


1 

I 


Itl 


To  another,  dealing  with  this  same  subject, 
the  margin  of  profit,  he  said: 

"The  public  very  soon  responds  to  values. 
It  might  be  true  that  few  people  can  tell 
whether  a  suit  is  worth  $2,  $3  or  $5,  more 
or  less;  but  there  is  a  hidden  principle  that  is 
unerring  and  that  reveals  the  collective  judg- 
ment of  your  community;  when  a  policy  of 
this  kind  is  pursued  for  any  length  of  time, 
they  soon  find  out  where  the  best  values  are 
offered.  The  good  will  that  you  create  in  this 
way  and  that  brings  new  business  into  your 
store  will  much  more  than  offset  the  slight 
sacrifice  that  you  make  in  the  reduced  prices." 

In  another  letter  to  the  head  of  a  large 
concern,  he  discussed  value-giving,  service 
and  advertising,  and  incidentally  disclosed  his 
own  simple,  modest  attitude  toward  the  men 
who,  under  him,  advised  and  helped  him: 

"The  question  that  is  vital  is  the  one  of 
giving  values  and  service.  When  that  repu- 
tation spreads  in  a  community,  as  we  believe 
yours  has  spread,  you  are  bound  to  keep  on 

I62I 


growing;  in  the  proportion  that  you  reach 
out  in  liberal  newspaper  advertising,  you  will 
get  gratifying  resulta 

"I  did  not  mean,  when  I  started  in,  to  give 
you  a  talk  that  would  separate  you  from  your 
money  in  an  advertising  appropriation,  but  I 
am  so  much  wrapped  up  and  committed  to 
this  phase  of  the  business  that  I  have  to  be 
very  carefully  censored  if  my  letters  are  to  go 
out  to  our  customers  without  some  of  this 
dope  in  them. 

"They  are  pretty  kind  to  me  around  here 
and,  after  I  have  started  on  this  topic,  they 
usually  allow  it  to  pass,  so  that,  if  it  comes 
to  you  as  I  have  written  it,  you  will  reali2;e 
that,  while  I  have  started  it  on  my  own  re^ 
sponsibihty,  it  has  been  sanctioned  by  the 
authorities  and  it  is  therefore  considered 
good  advice. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  one  thing  which 
manifests  itself  very  conspicuously  in  business 
today  is  the  lack  of  enterprise  on  the  part  of 
most  retailers  and  manufacturers.  They  are 

I63I 


« 


1 1  ■> 
1 1- 


If 


ff^l 


I 


'I 


r 


ii 


too  prone  to  follow  the  lines  of  least  resist- 
ance. This  does  not  apply  to  you  or  to  us 
but  undoubtedly  you  have  observed  it  in 
others.  It  is  just  such  a  situation  as  this  that 
makes  an  opportunity  for  progressive  men. 

"I  hope  I  have  not  tired  you.  I  want  you 
to  know  that  my  interest  in  your  success  is 
even  greater  than  the  prospect  of  increasing 
our  business  with  you.  I  am  prompted  by 
selfish  motives,  of  course,  but  if  I  did  not  feel 
that  my  own  selfishness  were  coupled  with 
your  self-interest,  I  should  not  think  of  mak- 
ing these  suggestions.'' 

Another  merchant  was  a  man  who  showed 
great  accuracy  and  care  in  watching  his  busi- 
ness and  who  was  a  constant  source  of  delight 
to  Mr.  Schaffher.  While  they  did  not  meet 
often,  their  friendship  was  warm  and  real. 
Here  is  an  extract  firom  a  letter  written  to 
warn  against  outside  enterprises: 

"I  talk  to  you  firankly  about  all  things  and 
in  the  spirit  of  an  adviser  and  a  critic.  You 
cannot  afford  to  make  any  mistakes  after  all 

[64] 


■«^ 


r..w,    II  i  I 


these  years,  and  I  cannot  afford  to  let  you. 
You  have  worked  hard  and  deserve  your 
reward.  There  is  one  thing  I  must  say  to 
you,  which  is  that  you  should  not  withdraw 
money  from  the  business  to  put  into  outside 
enterprises,  no  matter  how  alluring  the  pros- 
pect may  be.  Either  be  a  merchant  or  the 
other  thing;  you  cannot  be  both.  No  one 
ever  made  a  success  doing  more  than  one 
thing;  at  least,  not  many  people  have  done 
so.  If  they  have,  it  was  by  accident.  I  know 
how  sincerely  earnest  you  are,  that  you  are 
conscientious  and  scrupulous,  but  your  out- 
side ventures  represent  bad  judgment.  I  can- 
not help  but  speak  out  frankly  about  this  and 
hope  it  may  be  the  means  of  checking  your 
tendencies  in  that  direction.  What  I  write 
to  you  is  not  because  we  are  at  all  apprehen- 
sive, but  because  we  want  you  to  reali2;e  the 
truth  of  a  general  principle.  Also  because  we 
want  to  give  you  the  benefit  of  our  best  judg- 
ment, which  is  to  concentrate,  to  do  one 
thing  and  one  thing  only,  to  strengthen  your 

I65J 


W  I'l     * 


!' 


ill 


, 


t 


r 


capital  and  keep  on  advertising.  You  have 
been  doing  some  excellent  work.  I  do  not 
know  where  I  have  seen  anything  that  I  con^ 
sider  quite  as  original,  and  it  ought  to  be 
correspondingly  effective/' 

A  bank  sent  in  an  inquiry  regarding  a  large 
account.  The  inquiry  was  of  such  importance 
that  it  was  answered  by  Mr.  Schaffiier  him^ 
self,  and  the  bank  replied  asking  if  the  com^ 
pany  had  any  special  arrangements  to  protect 
itself  with  the  account  in  question.  Mr. 
Schaffner  was  much  incensed  at  the  sugges- 
tion thus  conveyed,  that  while  he  had  been 
good  enough  to  give  some  of  the  information 
desired,  he  might  have  withheld  some  facts 
of  importance.  His  answer  was  a  revelation  of 
the  man's  unalloyed  integrity.  He  wrote: 

"If  the  ethics  of  banking  justify  concealing 
security,  the  ethics  of  our  business  do  not. 
If  we  held  security  and  did  not  mention  the 
fact  to  you  in  our  reports,  it  would  be  noth- 
ing  short  of  corruption,  and  we  are  not  at  all 
flattered  by  your  inquiry.'' 

1661 


mmgi 


He  was  unalterably  opposed  to  mixing 
business  and  politics.  He  felt  that,  if  a  man 
wanted  to  go  into  poHtical  work  for  patriotic 
reasons,  it  was  a  fine  thing,  but  in  that  event 
he  should  get  out  of  business.  One  letter 
written  to  a  prominent  merchant  fully  reveals 
his  thought  on  that  point: 

"I  have  just  been  informed  that  you  prO' 
pose  to  enter  politics  and  be  a  candidate  for 
the  state  legislature.  I  was  so  much  affected 
by  it  that  I  could  not  refrain  from  expressing 
to  you  my  thorough  disapproval. 

"Perhaps  you  may  say  that  it  is  none  of 
my  affair  and,  therefore,  my  disapproval  does 
not  matter  to  you  but,  in  spite  of  this,  I  feel 
that  I  owe  you  a  duty  which  I  must  be  fear- 
less  in  expressing  and,  at  the  risk  of  losing 
even  your  good  opinion,  I  am  going  to  do  my 
duty. 

"Politics  for  a  business  man  is  a  very  poor 
combination.  A  man  who  enters  politics  must 
expect  to  devote  himself  enthusiastically  to 
the  cause  that  he  espouses.  It  is  a  constant 

[67 1 


fl 


I  i 


\ 


h*^ 


appeal  to  him  and  means  unremitting,  arduous 
and  concentrated  effort.  It  arouses  ambition 
and  his  pride  is  involved  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  stakes  ahnost  everything  and  generally 
comes  out,  no  matter  how  victorious  he  may 
be,  disastrously.  There  are  very  few  poli- 
ticians who  have  not  had  a  bitter  experience 
of  this  kind. 

"It  might  be  all  right  enough  if  you  had 
plenty  of  leisure  and  plenty  of  means  and 
wanted  to  make  a  sacrifice  from  patriotic 
motives  but,  if  you  do  that  and  can  afford  to 
do  that,  I  should  advise  you  to  get  out  of 
business,  because  your  business  will  surely 
suffer  in  more  than  one  way.  It  will  suffer 
by  reason  of  your  neglect  and  it  will  suffer  be- 
cause of  the  partisanship  that  you  are  bound 
to  espouse.  Politics  will  cost  you  a  lot  of 
money  and  it  will  mean  lots  of  heartaches 
and  weariness.  It  will  take  you  away  from 
your  family  to  a  great  extent.  It  will  put  you 
in  contact  with  temptations  that  will  strain 
your  manhood  to  the  utmost. 

168] 


"If  you  are  ambitious  to  be  a  successful 
merchant,  which  I  am  sure  is  a  very  laud- 
able aim,  it  seems  to  me  that,  since  you  have 
started  out  to  make  so  much  of  your  busi' 
ness,  that  in  itself  ought  to  give  you  sufficient 
activity  to  arouse  the  best  that  is  in  you.  I 
think  any  man  can  well  afford  to  devote  him- 
self to  business  and  find  in  it  compensations 
that  will  reward  him  richly  for  his  devotion. 

"I  say  this  outside  of  pecuniary  considera- 
tions. But  it  is  not  possible  for  a  man  to  do 
this  and  have  his  mind  occupied  with  politics 
and  all  of  the  many  radiations  of  a  political 
career.  I  have  seen  so  much  of  this  that  I 
know  what  I  am  talking  about.  I  have  had 
occasion  to  warn  a  few  people  and,  if  they 
had  heeded  my  warning,  they  would  have 
been  much  happier  than  they  are  now.  One 
of  them  did  heed  it  rather  late  and  is  better 
off  than  if  he  had  paid  no  attention  to  it  at  all. 

"The  idea  that  you  will  get  glory  and  re- 
nown out  of  it,  I  think,  is  probably  what  act- 
uates you  but,  instead  of  that,  you  will  find 

I69I 


:* 


J 'J 
'k' 
■  "'•■.' 

!'■'  i 
ii 


humiliation.  You  must  be  prepared  to  stand 
a  good  deal  of  abuse  because  that  is  the  price 
you  pay  for  the  running  and,  if  you  are  very 
sensitive,  you  cannot  get  sufficient  satisfaction 
out  of  the  office  to  recompense  you  for  the 
chagrin  that  you  will  suffer.  After  you  have 
spent  a  few  years  in  this  life,  you  will  be  un- 
fitted for  anything  else.  You  will  not  be  a  fit 
man  for  a  mercantile  life  because  it  will  not 
be  sufficiently  exciting  and,  in  the  meantime, 
your  business  will  suffer. 

"I  am  writing  very  frankly  to  you  about 
this  and,  as  I  said  before,  it  may  not  meet 
with  your  approval,  but  that  does  not  matter 
to  me.  I  have  expressed  myself  rather  mildly. 
I  think  if  I  could  have  you  face  to  face,  I 
would  be  more  blunt  and  give  you  even  a 
stronger  reason  than  I  can  put  into  a  letter. 

"I  am  not  doing  this  to  hurt  your  feelings 
or  to  say  something  for  the  sake  of  preaching. 
I  am  very  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
your  concern.  I  feel  that  it  requires  the  con- 
centrated efforts  of  both  of  you  to  bring  your 

I70I 


'"^ 


^<-^ 


.U^ 


■y^— or 


-dv 


'^«=*^ 


INTENTIONAL  SECOND  EXPOSURE 


f     III: 


1'- 


humiliation.  You  must  be  prepared  to  stand 
a  good  deal  of  abuse  because  that  is  the  price 
you  pay  for  the  running  and,  if  you  are  very 
sensitive,  you  cannot  get  sufficient  satisfaction 
out  of  the  office  to  recompense  you  for  the 
chagrin  that  you  will  suffer.  After  you  have 
spent  a  few  years  in  this  life,  you  will  be  un^ 
fitted  for  anything  else.  You  will  not  be  a  fit 
man  for  a  mercantile  life  because  it  will  not 
be  sufficiently  exciting  and,  in  the  meantime, 
your  business  will  suffer. 

"I  am  writing  very  frankly  to  you  about 
this  and,  as  I  said  before,  it  may  not  meet 
with  your  approval,  but  that  does  not  matter 
to  me.  I  have  expressed  myself  rather  mildly. 
I  think  if  I  could  have  you  face  to  face,  I 
would  be  more  blunt  and  give  you  even  a 
stronger  reason  than  I  can  put  into  a  letter. 

"I  am  not  doing  this  to  hurt  your  feelings 
or  to  say  something  for  the  sake  of  preaching. 
I  am  very  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
your  concern.  I  feel  that  it  requires  the  con- 
centrated efforts  of  both  of  you  to  bring  your 

[70I 


I 


I  ill 


h 


mn0m 


Ur\^>C(^     ^TvX-,        /^         ^^^SZ^ 


'  / 


^/Cj( — y      IT    --C< 


jLiK.^^.J^ 


^-^  <=*^ 


\ 

\ 


hl' 


i;     ^ 


N 


business  up  to  a  point  where  it  ought  to  be 
and  where  it  is  not  as  yet  by  any  means.  If 
you  think  you  can  afford  to  abandon  your 
duty  in  this  way,  then  your  standing  as  a 
merchant  must  suffer  and  you  must  be  pre^ 
pared  for  the  effect  it  will  have  upon  your 
mercantile  standing/' 

Mr.  Schaffner's  letters  to  salesmen  were 
most  stimulating,  strongly  supporting,  en- 
couraging to  greater  effort,  and  filled  with 
friendly  advice.  He  understood  how  to  make 
significant  use  of  praise  and  how  to  criticise 
so  gently  that  his  reader  was  not  depressed. 
Many  of  his  letters  to  salesmen  have  been 
preserved.  The  following  is  an  extract  from 
one  such  letter,  written  in  1900: 

"I  want  to  congratulate  you  on  the  nice 
order  just  received.  It's  the  strongest  kind  of 
evidence  that  you  are  competent  to  discharge 
responsibilities  of  the  most  delicate  nature. 
It  certainly  speaks  well  for  your  salesmanship 
and  we  are  more  than  ever  convinced  that 
you  are  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.'' 

.     [73I 


i\ 


I  III 


Hi 


I, 


h ' 


II 


From  another,  written  in  1 916,  we  take 
this: 

"I  have  been  criticising  you  lately.  Now 
I  want  to  praise  you.  The  work  that  you 
have  been  doing  shows  what  you  can  do 
when  you  get  really  stirred  up  and  go  out  on 
the  warpath.  Now  just  keep  this  up  the  rest 
of  the  season,  and  you  will  get  some  nice 
letters  from  me.  I  know  you  have  some  that 
you  have  kept  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and 
you  can  add  this  one  to  them.  It  is  my  tri\y 
ute  of  admiration  and  appreciation  of  what 
you  can  do  and  your  generally  fine  record 
during  all  the  years  we  have  been  associated 
together."' 

The  kindly  mixture  of  praise  and  criticism 
in  the  following  is  characteristic: 

"Some  of  you  deserve  to  be  criticised  and 
we  do  not  want  to  do  that.  We  know  how 
discouraging  it  is,  when  one  thinks  he  is  try- 
ing to  do  his  best,  and  is  out  on  the  road 
away  from  home,  to  have  faultfinding  letters; 
but  really  some  of  you  ought  to  get  them, 

I74I 


only  I  am  not  very  well  qualified  to  fulfill 
this  function.  So  if  you  will  just  take  it  upon 
yourselves  to  do  your  own  criticising,  and 
make  your  own  self-examinations,  and  look 
into  the  inward  springs  of  your  salesmanship, 
you  will  see  where  the  weakness  is. 

"It  will  certainly  do  none  of  you  any  harm, 
even  those  who  are  deserving  of  praise.  All 
of  us  are  better  off  if  we  set  a  high  standard 
for  our  mark  and  if  we  are  impatient  of  our 
own  shortcomings.  Selfdiscipline  backed  by 
determination  and  an  invincible  purpose  is 
the  most  valuable  asset  any  of  us  can  possess.**' 

Here  is  another  example  of  his  helpful  and 
vigorous  method: 

"I  beHeve,  if  we  could  really  appreciate 
what  we  have  here,  we  should  be  overflow- 
ing with  the  joy  of  our  activities  and  grateful 
that  we  are  connected  with  a  business  that 
has  given  us  such  opportunities. 

"I  do  not  think  many  of  you  realize  what 
it  means  to  be  connected  with  all  the  fine 
things  that  have  been  developed  in  our  busi- 

I75I 


I 


i 


I 


•M    V 


i 


ness  here.  Often  men  come  to  their  daily 
work  with  aversion.  Many  a  man  comes  to 
his  desk  in  the  morning  with  a  feeling  of  re- 
vulsion. How  much  more  difficult  it  is  for 
those  who  are  working  under  such  conditions 
than  it  is  for  us  who  have  so  many  elevating 
things  to  cheer  us. 

"The  labor  situation,  which  is  something 
that  is  very  seldom  referred  to,  is  to  a  large 
extent  responsible  for  the  high  quality  of  our 
product,  as  compared  to  what  it  would  be 
under  ordinary  circumstances.  We  have  now 
a  body  of  eager  and  sympathetic  workers 
who  are  expressing  their  loyalty  by  the  most 
devoted  co-operation. 

"Now,  this  is  a  little  bit  of  self-praise  that 
we  can  affi^rd  to  indulge  in  and  to  whisper 
to  each  other  once  in  a  while,  just  to  keep  us 
from  being  too  modest  and  self-deprecatory. 
Sometimes,  you  know,  we  go  to  the  other 
extreme,  but  it  is  almost  as  bad  to  underesti- 
mate ourselves  as  to  overestimate.  We  must 
be  conscious  of  our  strength  and  exult  in  it.'' 

[76I 


tm 


Enthusiasm  was  not  simply  a  personal  trait 
of  Mr.  Schaffiier's  character;  it  was  a  gospel, 
which  he  constantly  delivered  to  his  fellow- 
workers.  In  a  letter  to  a  discouraged  salesman 
he  wrote  in  part  as  follows: 

"We  reali^  that  you  are  working  under 
very  unusual  conditions  and  that  you  are 
meeting  with  obstacles  that  are  probably 
greater  than  you  have  ever  encountered.  We 
are  making  due  allowance  for  these  condi- 
tions, and  want  to  tell  you  that  we  are  sure 
you  are  not  overlooking  anything  that  will 
help  you  to  offset  the  difficulty.  We  know 
that  if  there  is  any  mian  who  can  do  this  it 
is  yourself,  and  we  feel  satisfied  that  you  have 
done  all  anybody  could  do  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. 

"All  we  ask  of  you  is  that  you  do  not  be- 
come discouraged.  We  know  that  you  are 
working  like  a  Trojan  and  doing  your  duty 
as  you  always  have  done  it,  and  that  when 
you  get  home  you  will  bring  with  you  all  the 
business  there  is  to  be  had.  We  shall  try  to 

I77] 


.1 


•it 

If  If  t 


Stir  up  enthusiasm  enough  to  help  balance 
things  a  little  bit.  We  know  if  any  goods  can 
be  sold  down  there  you  are  the  boy  who 
can  do  it,  and  we  want  you  to  feel  that  we 
have  the  utmost  faith  in  your  loyalty  and  in 
your  devotion  to  the  business/' 

To  the  younger  executives  his  correspon- 
dence was  always  a  delight.  From  on  board 
the  "Imperator"  on  September  6, 191 3,  when 
it  was  about  to  sail  for  Europe,  he  wrote: 

"Your  rare  judgment  and  enthusiasm  are 
unspeakably  cherished  by  me.  We  can  accom- 
plish anything  we  undertake,  and  whatever 
we  achieve  will  be  in  a  large  measure  due  to 
the  fine  spirit  which  pervades  our  organi2;a- 
tion.'' 

In  the  same  year,  from  the  Grand  Hotel  at 
Meran,  he  wrote: 

"I  have  tried  in  my  feeble  way  to  tell  you 
what  good  boys  you  are  and  I  want  you  to 
get  this  acknowledgment  even  though  you 
are  already  convinced  of  the  place  you  hold 
in  my  esteem  and  ajflfection.'' 

I78I 


ti 


n 


Sometimes  he  gently  chided  one  of  us  in  a 
humorous  vein.  To  one  of  the  employes  who 
was  slowly  recovering  from  a  severe  illness, 
and  who  expressed  his  distress  at  not  being 
able  to  return  to  his  duties,  Mr.  Schaffner 
wrote: 

"Fretting  and  chafing  is  a  good  occupation 
for  a  balky  horse;  at  least  it  is  expected,  even 
if  it  is  not  very  laudable,  even  in  a  horse;  but 
a  man  who  has  acquitted  himself  in  all  the 
relations  of  Ufe  as  you  have  ought  not  to 
make  a  jackass  of  himself.'' 

He  expressed  himself  frequently  with  rare 
humor.  Writing  from  Aix-les-Bains,  while  in 
Europe,  of  his  son,  he  said: 

"He  is  a  dear,  good  boy.  His  great  vice 
over  here  is  running  into  bookstores.  He  has 
been  obliged  to  read  some  of  the  best  things 
and,  strange  to  say,  has  enjoyed  them." 

While  away  in  1908,  he  received  his  daily 
letter  from  the  office  and,  as  an  appreciation, 
wrote  this  from  the  Hotel  Mirabeau,  Aix4es- 
Bains,  on  June  7,  1908: 

[79J 


II 


I 


,il 


III 


i 


\\     J! 


"You  people  in  the  ojflSce  keep  me  so  well 
informed  about  what  is  going  on  at  home 
that  I  feel  sure  I  am  almost  better  posted  than 
when  I  am  on  the  spot." 

Here  is  a  characteristic  letter,  written  from 
New  York  City  on  April  i8,  1912: 

"Just  a  few  minutes  before  we  leave  for 
the  boat  and  I  have  only  time  enough  to  ac 
knowledge  your  Twentieth  Century  letter. 
It  is  an  unspeakable  joy  to  picture  you  boys 
in  the  organi2;ation  with  your  enthusiasm  and 
loyalty  backed  by  sound  judgment.  Keep  it 
up  and  continue  to  forget  yourselves.  Be  care^ 
fill  to  get  plenty  of  rest  and  once  in  a  while 
think  of  something  besides  business.  I  look 
forward,  in  spite  of  the  disheartening  sea 
tragedy,  to  a  happy  time  and  hope  to  find 
you  all  reahzing  your  present  expectations 
when  I  return.''  [The  sea  tragedy  referred  to 
was  the  sinking  of  the  "Titanic."'] 

A  letter  to  a  young  employe  of  the  com- 
pany, written  on  June  12,  1916,  contained 
this  fine,  inspiring  note: 

[So] 


mmKmumm 


wmmm^ 


"It  will  be  a  long  time  before  you  will  use 
up  what  is  on  the  credit  side  of  your  account 
on  the  ledger  of  my  memory.  Certainly  there 
will  be  a  balance  too  great  for  you  to  exhaust 
during  my  lifetime." 

To  another  about  to  go  abroad,  he  wrote: 

"Here's  wishing  you  a  fine  voyage  and  a 
happy  time  abroad.  I  assume  you  will  be  on 
the  lookout  for  interesting  art  material.  Per- 
haps  some  inspiration  over  there  will  lead  to 
a  canvas  that  will  add  fresh  laurels  to  your 
reputation  as  an  artist. 

"You  might  even  find  some  suggestion  that 
would  enhance  the  art  work  of  the  old,  re- 
liable  firm  of  clothiers  that  you  have  done  so 
much  to  make  famous.  At  Algiers  be  sure  to 
take  a  good  look  at  the  Arab  quarters  and 
also  the  beautiful  St.  George  Hotel  that  is 
probably  not  open  now. 

"Well,  wherever  you  are,  make  the  most 
of  your  opportunities  and  be  sure  that  my 
good  wishes  are  around  somewhere.  Good 
luck  and  safe  return." 

[81 1 


It 


.! 


U 


T'y 


it 


m 


He  was  always  very  particular  about  the 
character  of  the  letters  that  were  written  by 
his  associates  and  his  example  in  letter-writ- 
ing was  the  standard  for  the  whole  office. 
The  maximum  of  praise  to  anyone  was  to  be 
told  that  his  letter  was  like  Mr.  Schaffiier's. 

At  one  time  a  famous  New  England  house 
pulDlished  a  book  including  the  best  letters 
ever  written  and  gave  it  the  title  "Selected 
English  Letters/'  This  book  contained  such 
letters  as  the  following:  Sir  Henry  Sidney 
to  his  son,  Philip  Sidney,  Dean  Swift  to 
Alexander  Pope,  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  to  the 
Earl  of  Chesterfield,  Robert  Bums  to  the  Earl 
of  Glencaim,  Sir  Walter  Scott  to  George 
Crabbe,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  to  William 
Godwin,  Charles  Lamb  to  William  Words- 
worth, Lord  Byron  to  Thomas  Moore,  Percy 
Bysshe  Shelley  to  John  Keats,  Thomas  Carly  le 
to  Benjamin  DisraeH,  Thomas  Macaulay  to 
his  fether,  Abraham  Lincoln  to  Horace  Gree- 
ley, Charlotte  Bronte  to  Robert  Southey, 
John  Ruskin  to  Charles  Eliot  Norton,  James 

[82J 


— -ffc^.<A 


.? 


Russell  Lowell  to  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  to  WiUiam  Dean 
Howells,  all  of  them  famous,  and  the  list  con- 
cluded with  a  letter  from  Hart  Schafiher  fe? 
Marx  to  one  of  its  customers.  The  letter  was 
one  that  had  been  prepared  by  a  member  of 
the  staff  in  the  usual  course  of  business  and  the 
fact  that  the  publishers  thought  it  worthy  to 
appear  in  such  association  gave  Mr.  Schaffiier 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure. 

In  all  his  letters,  the  fine  spirit  of  optimism, 
of  friendliness,  of  good  will,  appeared  in  a 
generous  degree.  The  sound  business  judg- 
ment of  the  man,  his  unselfish  desire  to  help 
"the  other  fellow/'  his  feithful  readiness  to 
criticise  and  admonish,  all  these  were  strongly 
characteristic  of  him.  He  simply  expressed 
himself 


i 


[83 1 


•t 


I! 


INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS 

NE  of  the  most  enduring  and  con^ 

structive  acts  of  Mr.  Schaffner's 

life  is  the  part  he  played  in  estate 

lishing  better  relations  between 

employer  and  employe. 

The  problem  of  industrial  relations  con' 
fronted  his  company  suddenly  in  the  last  dec 
ade  of  his  life;  the  field  was  one  absolutely 
new  to  him  but  his  mind  was  prepared  to 
grasp  it.  He  had  read  freely  the  writings  of 
men  who  took  a  broad  view  of  labor  proly 
lems  and  his  own  natural  desire  to  apply 
justice  to  every  problem  gave  him  a  fine  prep^ 
aration  for  the  task.  He  looked  quickly  into 
the  real  situation  and  his  wisdom  in  the  solu^ 
tion  is  a  striking  confirmation  of  the  idea  that 
a  broad  and  Uberal  culture  coupled  with  a 
practical  grasp  of  the  great  principle  of  justice 
and  right  is  really  superior  to  any  amount  of 
special  training. 

[85  1 


II! 


I  n 


I 
,  i 


nil 


His  partners  and  he  had  established  an 
acknowledged  leadership  in  the  clothir^  in^ 
dustry  which  was  tangibly  evident  in  the 
existence  of  a  great  establishment  and  they 
did  not  dream  that  the  company  was  still  to 
achieve  a  position  of  pre-eminence  in  the  his- 
tory  of  industrial  relations. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  great  clothing  strike 
in  Chicago  in  1910,  Mr.  Schafiher  had  given 
little  thought  to  the  manufacturing  phases  of 
the  business;  his  mind  had  been  entirely  en- 
grossed  in  management  and  promotion.  At 
that  time  of  life,  he  had  no  intention  of  ac 
quiring  new  interests  or  responsibilities. 

The  strike  had  become  so  prolonged  and 
spectacular  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
newspapers  which,  after  their  manner,  had 
set  about  to  develop  the  sensational  features 
of  the  situation.  This  publicity  and  the  criti- 
cisms of  committees,  among  the  members  of 
which  were  close  personal  friends,  disturbed 
him  greatly.  The  clothing  business  had  only 
recently  emerged  from  the  contractors'  stage. 

186] 


Under  that  system,  the  manufacturer  did  not 
make  the  garments  at  all  but  sub-let  the  manu- 
facturing to  contractors,  so  that  no  relations 
existed  between  the  company  and  the  actual 
workers.  Mr.  Schaffher  and  his  partners  had 
departed  from  that  system  and  had  estab- 
lished what  is  known  as  "inside  shops.''  An 
"inside  shop"  is  one  where  the  company 
employs  the  workers  and  directs  all  the  proc- 
esses itself  and  becomes  the  actual  employer. 
That  system  existed  when  the  strike  began. 

The  first  reports  of  the  strike  which  came 
to  the  company  failed  to  reveal  anything  of  a 
troublesome  or  disquieting  nature.  Indeed, 
a  few  days  before  the  strike,  accordir^  to  his 
statement  before  the  Federal  Industrial  Rela^ 
tions  Committee  in  1914,  Mr.  Schaffiier  re- 
marked to  a  merchant  on  the  satisfactory 
condition  existing  in  the  company's  shops. 

During  the  earlier  weeks  of  the  strike,  he 
believed  the  work  of  a  few  agitators  whose 
influence  would  soon  decline  was  responsible 
but,  as  the  demonstration  continued  and  the 

I87I 


^mmmmmmir 


k 


l-l 


bitterness  increased,  he  was  forced  to  occupy 
himself  with  it  more  and  more.  He  was  as^ 
tonished  and  offended  that  his  partners  and 
he  should  be  regarded  as  reactionary  em" 
ployers  and  held  responsible  for  the  situation. 
It  had  not  occurred  to  him  that  there  m^ht 
be  abuses  in  the  system  which  prevailed  in 
the  shops.  There  was  no  lack  of  advice  from 
employers  experienced  in  labor  disputes.  They 
all  warned  him  of  the  danger  in  making  any 
concession  to  the  workers,  especially  as  it 
might  encourage  unionism  in  Chicago.  Union- 
ism, he  was  told,  was  the  great  menace  which 
would  jeopardi2;e  the  institution  which  had 
been  so  successfully  built  up  by  his  associates 
and  himself  in  the  past  years  and  of  which 
he  was  so  proud. 

Early  in  the  struggles,  the  company  con- 
sented to  arbitrate,  but  stipulations  had  been 
made  concerning  the  reinstatement  of  em- 
ployes guilty  of  violence,  which  the  strikers 
interpreted  to  mean  the  abandonment  of  their 
leaders  in  the  strike. 

18S] 


Mr.  Schaffner's  mind  became  completely 
obsessed  with  the  strike  and  he  could  think 
of  little  else.  He  endeavored  to  find  some  plan 
which  would  solve  the  problem.  His  sound 
and  cautious  business  sense,  however,  would 
not  permit  him  to  adopt  some  course  simply 
because  it  made  a  strong  appeal  to  his  gen- 
erous sentiments  without  weighing  it  care- 
fully as  a  business  proposition. 

He  soon  caught  the  concept  that  "the  good 
will  of  the  employes  is  a  business  asset  com- 
parable to  the  good  will  of  the  customer,'' 
and  it  shortly  became  the  guiding  principle  in 
his  thinking  on  industrial  relations.  His  suc- 
cess in  advertising  was  such  that  it  was  quite 
natural  that  the  value  of  good  will  in  general 
should  have  been  highly  appreciated  by  him. 

He  was  prepared  also  to  estimate  at  its 
true  value  the  approval  of  public  opinion  and 
he  could  easily  see  that  in  the  future  the  pub- 
lic was  likely  to  become  more  and  more  in- 
terested in  the  conditions  under  which  the 
clothing  they  wore  was  manufactured.  In 

I89I 


1* 


1 

1 


his  keen-sighted  way,  he  had  perceived  that 
people  are  attracted  toward  business  con- 
cerns as  well  as  toward  individuals  who  rep- 
resented  to  them  something  worthy,  whether 
on  account  of  its  beauty,  its  virtue,  or  its  good 
repute.  Just  as  he  wished  his  own  name  to 
be  associated  with  what  is  good  and  noble, 
so  he  wished  the  name  of  his  company  to  be 
well  regarded,  for  business  as  well  as  senti- 
mental reasons. 

The  strike  was  finally  settled  by  an  agree- 
ment to  arbitrate  but  this  was  only  the  first 
step  in  a  movement  looking  toward  the  es- 
tablishment of  some  system  by  which  strikes 
would  be  impossible  in  the  future. 

He  had  never  given  much  attention  to  the 
subject  of  industrial  relations  but  his  natural 
sense  of  "doing  the  right  thing'"  was  a  safe 
guide  in  the  delicate  and  somewhat  intricate 
negotiations  which  were  then  undertaken  be- 
tween the  firm  and  the  leaders  of  the  workers. 
He  entered  upon  the  conferences  which  fol- 
lowed with  characteristic  spirit;  just  as  he 

[90I 


^ 


—    •:-«' 


had  faith  in  the  high-minded  policies  of  the 
firm  in  merchandising  and  advertising,  so  now 
this  policy  was  exercised  with  reference  to 

labor. 

The  difficulties  which  attended  the  tran- 
sition from  the  old  system  of  autocratic  con- 
trol to  the  new  system  of  agreement  were 
numerous  and  formidable.  These  difficulties 
were  to  some  extent  in  the  attitude  of  the 
mind  of  the  men  with  whom  he  was  dealing. 
The  workers  were  slow  in  their  adaptation 
to  the  new  policy  proposed,  and  few  of  them 
had  much  faith  in  it. 

The  greatest  single  step  was  taken  when 
the  power  of  discipline  was  taken  away  from 
the  shop-foreman.  Most  of  the  practical  men 
were  positive  that  the  plan  would  seriously 
impair  the  quality  of  the  merchandise;  that 
the  foreman,  not  being  able  to  exercise  dis- 
cipline, would  be  unable  to  get  good  results 
in  the  work.  Under  these  circumstances, 
there  was  little  to  depend  upon  but  faith; 
but  his  strong  belief  in  the  law  of  compensa- 

[91 1 


tion,  and  his  firm  confidence  in  his  own  sense 
of  justice  and  in  doing  the  right  thing,  led 
him  to  assert  that  the  compensation  would 
be  sure,  even  though  delayed  and  not  clearly 
discernible  then.  The  results  showed  how 
thoroughly  correct  he  was. 

That  quality  in  him  which  we  call  idealism 
had  its  source  in  a  few  fundamental  prin- 
ciples which  were  firmly  established  in  his 
mind,  and  which  exerted  their  force  at  a  time 
hke  that.  He  quickly  grasped  the  point  of 
view  of  the  workers;  he  sympathi2;ed  with 
their  desire  to  have  something  to  say  about 
their  own  labor  contribution  to  the  success 
of  the  business  and  the  conditions  under 
which  they  were  to  work. 

It  is  imnecessary  to  recount  in  detail  the 
long  negotiations,  the  discussions  of  policy 
and  method  which  ensued,  out  of  which  grew 
the  now  celebrated  "Hart  Schafiher  fe?  Marx 
agreement.'' 

The  union  leaders  found  themselves  deal' 
ing  with  men  of  open-minded  spirit,  eager  to 

I92I 


i 


V,>rV 


1^.. ^■•»^  ■» • 


know  and  do  the  right  thing;  they  were  thus 
encouraged  to  approach  the  subject  in  the 
same  attitude  and  the  results  were  quickly 
secured.  The  "agreement''  was  a  triumph  of 
that  spirit.  It  has  been  in  force  ever  since  it 
was  first  entered  upon  and  has  proved  satis- 
factory to  both  parties.  It  is  now  revised 
every  three  years  and  renewed  willingly  by 
the  firm  and  the  workers. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  one  of  the  arbi- 
trators under  the  agreement,  Mr.  SchaflFner 
wrote:  "If  we  go  down  in  history  as  a  path- 
finder in  a  great  movement,  it  will  be  an 
achievement  that  will  be  a  richer  reward 
than  money  can  furnish." 

In  testifying  before  the  Federal  Commis- 
sion on  Industrial  Relations  at  Washington  in 
1914,  he  thus  characterized  his  own  attitude; 
he  said  he  believed  that  an  employer  of  labor 
was  a  trustee,  not  only  of  the  stockholders  of 
his  company,  and  of  the  customers  of  the 
house,  but  also  of  all  those  who  worked  with 
him  and  for  him.  His  testimony  at  that  time 

I93I 


i 


7 


was  given  wide  publicity,  the  great  news^ 
papers  of  the  country  playing  it  up  in  their 
news  columns  and  many  of  them  referred  to 
it  editorially.  A  typical  news  article  on  the 
subject  appeared  in  the  "Chicago  Tribune''  on 
April  9,  1914,  with  the  heading:  "Harmony 
Needed  to  Avoid  Strikes;  Joseph  Schaffher 
Explains  How  Industrial  Peace  Can  Be  Ob^ 
tained/'  The  despatch  under  a  Washington 
date  line  of  April  8th  was  as  follows: 

Joseph  Schaffner  of  Hart  Schafiher  &*  Marx, 
Chicago,  today  offered  the  Federal  Commission  on 
Industrial  Relations  the  most  valuable  suggestion  it 
has  yet  received  for  settling  wage  disputes. 

Recoimting  his  own  experiences  as  an  employer 
of  labor,  Mr.  Schaffner  said  it  was  necessary  that 
there  be  harmony  of  interests  between  the  employer 
and  the  employe  to  get  satisfactory  results  from  the 
business. 

OflBcials  Trustees  for  All 

He  expressed  what  is  regarded  as  the  most  en^ 
lightened  view  of  employment  when  he  said : 

"I  believe  that  the  officers  of  a  corporation  are 
trustees  of  the  interests  of  all  connected  with  the 
institution.  Decisions  affecting  the  interests  of  any 

I94I 


group  should  not  be  made  until  such  interests  have 
the  opportunity  to  present  their  case.  Where  there 
is  any  doubt  as  to  fairness  of  any  decision  or  policy 
there  should  be  a  disinterested  tribunal  to  review 
the  decision. 

"In  my  opinion,  the  chief  cause  of  hostility  and 
bad  feeling  between  the  employer  and  the  employe 
is  the  usual  lack  of  any  means  for  determining 
what  is  right  or  wrong— i.  e.,  the  lack  of  common 
code  or  disinterested  authority  whose  judgment  is 
respected  by  both  sides.  Disputes  once  settled,  even 
if  one  side  loses,  are  seldom  the  cause  of  trouble;  it 
is  the  unsettled  disputes  that  are  dangerous.'' 

Mr.  Schaffner,  in  speaking  of  the  strike  as  it  af" 
fected  his  own  concern,  said  careful  study  of  the 
situation  led  him  to  believe  the  fundamental  cause 
was  that  the  workers  had  no  satisfactory  channel 
through  which  minor  grievances,  petty  tyranny,  and 
exactions  of  minor  bosses  could  be  taken  up  and 
adjusted  amicably.  These  grievances  were  allowed 
to  accumulate  without  any  sympathetic  action  on 
the  part  of  the  employers  until  finally  the  walkout 
occurred. 

Conferences  during  the  strike  between  represent 
tatives  of  the  firm  and  representatives  of  the  em^ 
ployes  resulted  in  the  building  up  of  a  republican 
form  of  government  within  the  industry  in  which 
all  interests  were  represented. 

[95 1 


Ill 


I 


If 


ii 


Results  of  New  System 

In  speaking  of  this  system  the  Chicagoan  said : 

"A  summary  of  the  essentials  of  the  system 
which  has  produced  such  gratifying  results  in  our 
institution  would  include : 

"A  labor  department,  responsible  for  industrial 
peace  and  good  will  of  the  employes,  of  necessity 
fully  informed  as  to  their  sentiments,  their  organiza^ 
tions,  and  really  representing  their  interests  in  the 
councils  of  the  company. 

"A  means  for  the  prompt  and  final  settlement  of 
all  disputes. 

"A  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  employes 
that  the  employer  is  fair  and  that  all  their  interests 
are  safeguarded. 

"Constant  instruction  of  the  leaders  and  people 
in  the  principles  of  business  equity,  thus  gradually 
evolving  a  code  acceptable  to  all  parties  in  interest, 
serviceable  as  a  basis  for  adjustment  of  all  difficulties. 

"The  development  of  efficient  representation  of 
the  employes. 

"A  friendly  policy  toward  the  union  so  long  as 
it  is  conducted  in  harmony  with  the  ethical  princi^ 
pies  employed  in  the  business  and  an  uncompromis' 
ing  opposition  to  all  attempts  to  coerce  or  impose 
upon  the  rights  of  any  group  or  to  gain  an  unfair 
advantage. 

[96I 


' 


"A  management  that  guarantees  every  man  full 
compensation  for  his  efficiency  and  prevents  any 
one  receiving  anything  he  has  not  earned. 

Restores  Smaller  Shop  Conditions 

"Briefly  expressed,''  he  continued,  "it  is  simply 
the  natural  and  healthy  relation  which  usually 
exists  between  the  small  employer  and  his  half  do^n 
workmen,  artificially  restored,  as  far  as  possible,  in 
a  large  scale  business  where  the  real  employer  is  a 
considerable  group  of  executives  managing  thou" 
sands  of  workers  according  to  certain  established 
principles  and  policies. 

"I  hope  that  it  will  become  clear  to  everybody 
that  the  successful  result  of  these  developments  had 
depended  much  less  upon  the  formal  and  external 
features  than  upon  the  spirit  with  which  it  has  been 
worked  out.  I  am  not  able  to  say  how  far  the  suc^ 
cess  is  dependent  upon  the  men  who  have  been  in^ 
strumental  in  developing  it  but  I  do  know  that  we 
have  been  most  fortunate  in  our  personnel. 

"I  wish  to  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  ar^ 
bitrators  and  the  chairman  of  the  trade  board,  and 
also  of  Mr.  Hillman,  who  developed  a  wonderful 
influence  over  people  who  came  in  contact  with  him 
because  of  his  high  ideals,  his  patience  under  trying 
circumtstances,  his  indomitable  feith  in  the  ultimate 
success  of  right  methods. 

[97  1 


\\i 


< 


'li 


t^i 


i 


I 


Will  Accept  Board's  Rulings 

"So  long  as  the  unions  are  working  toward  the 
ideal  we  aim  at — i.  e.,  justice  toward  every  interest 
connected  with  the  institution  and  the  highest  eco^ 
nomic  eflSciency,  which  is  the  same  as  saying  per^ 
forming  our  duty  toward  everybody  inside  and 
outside  of  the  institution,  employes,  stockholders, 
customers,  and  the  general  public— we  wish  to  see 
them  strong.  We  are  willing  that  our  Board  of  Ar^ 
bitration  should  decide  just  what  justice  is  and  are 
willing  to  accept  its  interpretation. 

"Because  there  is  no  guaranty  that  those  who 
control  the  unions  (which  are  often  not  representa^ 
tive  of  the  members)  will  hold  to  this  ideal,  we  do 
not  care  to  be  committed  to  the  'closed  shop.'  If 
such  a  change  should  come  we  would  be  required 
to  restrict  the  power  of  the  unions  as  far  as  we 
could.*" 

An  editorial  relating  to  the  foregoing  tes- 
timony appeared  in  the  "Chicago  Tribune"  on 
May  8,  19 14,  and,  as  it  is  representative  of 
press  opinion  at  that  time,  it  is  here  repro- 
duced: 

"The  labor  press  of  the  United  States  is  making 
much  of  the  statement  recently  made  by  Mr. 
Schaflfner  of  Hart  Schaffner  6P  Marx  before  the 

[98I 


I 


Federal  Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  in 
Washington.  The  Hart  Schaflftier  6?  Marx  firm  has 
won  national  prominence  by  the  trade  agreement 
it  has  made  with  its  7,000  employes,  an  agreement 
which  gives  both  the  manufacturers  and  the  work- 
ers peace  with  honor. 

"In  giving  his  and  his  corporation's  views  on  the 
labor  problem,  Mr.  Schaflfner  had  said:  'I  believe 
the  officers  of  a  corporation  are  trustees  of  the  in^ 
terests  of  all  connected  with  the  institution.'  The 
labor  papers  of  the  country  welcome  this  statement. 
They  see  in  this  broad-minded  utterance  of  a  large 
employer  of  labor  a  proof  that  a  new  era  in  the 
relationship  between  capital  and  labor  is  at  hand, 
an  era  in  which  the  himian  factor  in  industry  will 
be  taken  more  and  more  into  consideration. 

"Not  only  labor  people  but  every  citizen  who 
has  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  country  at  heart 
wiU  find  in  this  broad  liberalism  of  certain  employ- 
ers relief  firom  the  gloom  which  such  stubbornly 
contested  strikes  as  those  of  West  Virginia,  Michi' 
gan  and  Colorado  have  thrown  over  the  nation." 

In  the  "Century  Magazine''  of  July,  191 5, 

there  appeared  an  article  entitled,  "A  Way 

to  Industrial  Peace,"  by  George  Creel,  in 

which  the  author  fully  treated  the  industrial 

plan  which  Mr.  Schaffner  and  his  partners 

[99I 


»ii 


i 


mr^^-i 


'J 


I 


!i 


had  fathered  and,  after  giving  the  details  of 
the  machinery,  the  article  went  on  to  say: 

"Doubtless  all  this  may  carry  an  effect  of  confu^ 
sion  to  the  average  mind,  and  yet  its  operation  in 
the  conduct  of  this  particular  business  has  become 
frictionless  and  even  noiseless.  During  the  kst  two 
years,  there  has  not  been  a  shop  strike,  there  has 
seldom  been  an  appeal  from  the  price  committee, 
the  Trade  Court  considers  an  increasingly  small  num^ 
ber  of  cases,  and  since  January,  191 3,  the  Board  of 
Arbitration  has  not  been  called  upon  to  hear  appeals 
in  more  than  five  or  six  cases. 

"It  is  difficult  to  grasp  the  idea  until  one  grasps 
the  Schaffner  theory  of  business.  As  he  sees  it,  the 
large  concern  and  its  employes  constitute  a  small 
society.  Under  conditions  where  the  employer  does 
not  consider  the  rights  of  the  employes,  this  society 
is  a  despotism,  and  under  conditions  where  the 
workers  are  given  a  voice,  it  is  a  republic.  When 
the  change  was  made  from  the  monarchical  form  to 
the  republican  form,  the  original  agreement  became 
the  constitution,  and  the  Trade  Court  and  the  Board 
of  Arbitration  were  given  legislative  and  judicial 
powers.  What  had  to  be  done  then  was  to  have 
laws  made  and  interpreted  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
give  every  member  of  the  society  full  understand' 
ing  of  his  rights^  his  obligations,  and  his  respon^ 
sibilities.  ^  'f  ^  "f  ^  ^, 

[100] 


-«ff»»- 


**It  must  not  be  assumed  that  Mr.  Schaffner  is 
any  amiable  philanthropist,  weakly  willing  to  lose 
money  and  make  concessions  for  the  sake  of  bask^ 
ing  in  the  warm  light  that  streams  from  adulatory 
press  notices.  He  is  frankly  a  product  of  the  com- 
petitive school,  and  has  not  advanced  to  his  present 
attitude  without  making  many  a  fight  against  his 
own  bitter  prejudices.  Had  he  been  convinced  that 
right  was  on  his  side  in  the  1910  strike,  he  would 
have  stood  by  his  guns  until  destroyed.  What  such 
a  man  has  to  say  must  carry  weight.  He  declares: 

"'Industrial  peace  will  never  come  so  long  as 
either  employer  or  employe  believes  that  he  is  being 
deprived  of  rights  honestly  belonging  to  him. 

"  'Arbitration  and  conciliation  should  be  applied 
to  all  departments  of  a  business,  wherever  there  is 
a  conflict  of  interest.  If  nothing  more,  it  insures 
exhaustive  discussion  of  every  matter  of  importance, 
gives  everybody  an  opportunity  to  express  his  opin- 
ions, frequently  brings  to  light  valuable  suggestions, 
and  makes  possible  a  higher  degree  of  co-operation 
and  team-work.  It  is  a  method  to  be  employed  con- 
tinuously to  secure  harmony  and  satisfaction. 

"  'Patience  and  self-control  are  essential  in  admin- 
istering a  business  on  this  basis.  It  is  human  nature 
to  resent  interference  and  to  desire  unrestricted 
liberty  of  action,  but  these  conditions  are  not  nec- 
essary and  are  often  inimical  to  true  success.  Few 

[loil 


hi     ■ 


. 


•  { 


men  can  use  unlimited  power  wisely,  and  no  wise 
man  will  dispense  with  checks  which  tend  to  keep 
him  in  the  right  path;  certainly  he  will  approve  of 
checks  calculated  to  restrain  his  agents  from  arbi- 
trary and  unjust  acts  to  fellow-employes. 

"  'I  have  found  that  disputes  once  settled,  even  if 
one  side  loses,  are  seldom  causes  of  trouble.  It  is 
the  unsettled  disputes  that  are  dangerous.  This  fail- 
ure of  adjustment  is  largely  due  to  the  lack  of  means 
for  determining  what  is  right  or  wrong,  the  lack  of 
a  common  code,  and  the  absence  of  a  disinterested 
authority  whose  judgment  is  respected  by  both  sides. 
"  'We  did  not  reali^,  and  we  believe  the  majority 
of  employers  do  not  yet  realize,  the  extent  to  which 
the  attitude  and  conduct  of  their  organized  em- 
ployes reflect  their  own  poUcies  and  conduct. 

"  'In  our  own  business,  employing  thousands  of 
persons,  some  of  them  newly-arrived  immigrants, 
many  of  them  in  opposition  to  the  wage  system 
and  hostile  to  employers  as  a  class,  we  have  ob- 
served astonishing  chaiiges  in  their  attitude  during 
the  four  years  under  the  influence  of  our  labor 
arrangement.  They  have  come  to  feel  that  they  can 
rely  upon  promises  made  by  the  company,  and  that 
justice  will  be  done  them  by  a  system  in  which 
they  themselves  have  a  voice;  and  as  a  result,  they 
are  proud  of  their  own  honor,  careful  of  their 
promises,  and  equally  eager  for  justice  to  all." '' 

I  102  J 


V 


Many  other  articles  appeared  in  such  maga" 
zines  as  "The  Independent,"  "Survey/'  "Out- 
look," "Nation"  and  others,  explaining  to  the 
public  the  nature  of  the  Hart  Schaflfner  fe? 
Marx  agreement. 

Mr.  Schafiher  declared  that,  when  his  mind 
was  turned  to  industrial  economics,  he  was 
too  old  to  think  very  far  into  the  fundamen- 
tal principles  of  social  justice,  but  his  natural 
instincts  made  his  contribution  to  industrial 
history  as  well  as  to  the  welfare  of  the  cloth- 
ing industry  a  most  notable  one.  The  agree- 
ment which  he  and  his  associates  entered 
upon  with  their  workers  was  the  greatest 
advance  made  in  industrial  history  in  a  gen- 
eration. 

The  details  of  operation  under  this  agree- 
ment have  been  widely  published  and  are 
pretty  generally  known  to  all  who  are  in- 
terested in  such  matters.  They  would  be 
interesting  here  only  as  a  light  on  the  broad- 
minded  and  Hberal  attitude  of  Mr.  Schaffner 
and  his  partners. 

[103I 


II  I 


A  single  incident  may  be  mentioned.  It  is 
reported  that,  when  the  conference  was  first 
in  session  after  the  long  strike  Mr.  Schaffher 
said  to  those  most  directly  in  charge  of  the 
matter:  "Now,  let  us  not  win  any  brilliant 
victories.*"  The  fine  temper  of  the  man  could 
not  be  better  shown. 


[104I 


i  I 


V 


i 


HIS  BELIEF  IN  HIGHER 
EDUCATION 

DEEP  and  sincere  admiration  for 
intellectual  attainments  was  an 
outstanding  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Schaffiier.  The  pleasure  he  gained 
from  reading  came  as  much  from  a  veneration 
for  the  inteUect  which  could  accomplish  such 
work  as  from  the  manner  and  matter  of  the 

work  itself. 

He  was  himself  an  idealist  by  nature  if  not 
by  college  training;  he  had  a  reverence  for 
learning  and  put  a  high  value  on  the  trained 

mind. 

But  he  was  always  the  man  of  business; 
and  one  of  the*  most  remarkable  things  about 
him  was  that  nothing  he  read  and  nothing 
he  thought  seemed  foreign  to  the  one  thing 
to  which  he  had  set  his  mind— the  building 
up  of  the  really  great  business  structure  which 
his  partners  and  he  were  rearing.  Business 

[1C5 1 


i 


I 


i 


meant  to  him  the  opportunity  to  express  his 
ideals  and  to  achieve  something  more  worth 
while  than  merely  making  money,  although 
his  desire  for  profitable  results  was  as  keen 
as  any  business  man's.  He  held  that  profit  in 
business  was  an  evidence  of  the  soundness  of 
his  ideas. 

Some  years  ago  certain  prominent  business 
men  were  inclined  to  belittle  the  value  of 
college  and  university  training;  and  some  of 
them  said  very  plainly  that  the  standard  proc- 
esses of  higher  education  unfitted  men  for 
business  life;  developed  impractical  theorists 
and  idealists. 

Mr.  Schaffner  neither  underestimated  the 
value  of  a  college  education  nor  did  he  over- 
value it.  He  firmly  believed  that  the  training 
and  development  of  the  mental  powers  gave 
men  a  foundation  that  should  logically  be  of 
service  to  business.  It  was  the  old  contro- 
versy between  the  so-called  practical  idea  in 
education  and  the  cultural  idea.  He  held  the 
view  that  the  value  of  a  college  training 

[io6l 


\ 


depended  not  so  much  upon  what  was  put  in- 
to a  man's  mind  as  what  was  brought  out  of  it. 

He  would  have  said,  in  the  words  of  a 
modem  essayist,  "The  highest  service  of  the 
educated  man  in  our  democratic  society  de- 
mands of  him  breadth  of  interest  as  well  as 
depth  of  technical  research.  It  requires  un- 
quenched  ardor  for  the  best  things,  spon- 
taneous delight  in  the  play  of  mind  and 
character,  a  many-sided  responsibiUty  that 
shall  keep  a  man  firom  hardening  into  a  mere 
high-geared,  technical  machine.  It  is  these 
qualities  that  perfect  a  liberal  education  and 
complete  a  man  s  usefulness  to  his  generation. 
Taken  by  themselves,  they  fit  him  primiarily 
for  living  rather  than  for  making  a  living.'' 

That  quotation  well  defines  Mr.  Schaffner 
himself  He  was  increasingly  convinced  that 
if  college  men  would  interest  themselves  in 
business,  rather  than  turn  from  it  to  the  pro- 
fessions, the  training  of  the  college  would  be 
of  the  highest  value  to  the  man  and  to  the 

business. 

[107I 


f  I 


There  were  no  illusions  in  his  mind  that 
college  training  could  be  substituted  for  prac- 
tical experience  or  that  without  college  train- 
ing there  could  be  no  deep  intellectual  life. 
His  own  career  was  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
He  was  associated  with  men,  his  partners  as 
well  as  the  leading  executives  of  the  business, 
whose  natural  intellectual  endowments  be- 
spoke leadership  for  them  with  or  without 
the  advantages  of  higher  education.  He  knew 
also  that  to  some  extent  colleges  spoiled  men 
for  business;  that  the  atmosphere  of  college 
life  had  a  tendency  to  create,  false  standards 
and  too  often  to  give  a  tinge  of  self-importance. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  knew  that  education 
for  years  had  been  used  mainly  for  the  pro- 
fessions; that  the  law,  medicine,  ministry,  re- 
quired careful  study  and  preparation,  and  he 
felt  that,  if  mental  training  could  be  given 
and  knowledge  could  be  imparted  that  was 
of  value  to  the  professions,  data  could  be 
accumulated  and  principles  estabUshed  and 
taught  concerning  business. 

I108I 


M 


It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  he  should  con- 
cern himself  with  a  plan  for  directing  toward 
business  the  energies  of  the  trained  thinker. 

The  idea  of  the  Hart  Schaffner  6?  Marx 
pri2;es  for  economic  essays  which  were  pub- 
licly announced  in  1904  must  have  been  in 
his  mind  for  years.  He  was  anxious  to  stim- 
ulate a  real  interest  in  business  on  the  part 
of  students  and  he  felt  that  some  invitation 
from  business  itself  would  be  effectual  and  at 
the  same  time  promote  the  idea  of  study, 
research  and  investigation  in  the  business 
world.  Out  of  his  thought  and  plan  along 
these  lines  came  another  thing  of  great  public 
importance  and  of  vital  interest  to  him  to  the 
end  of  his  life— the  Northwestern  University 
School  of  Commerce. 

The  prizes  for  economic  essays  were  the 
first  definite  expression  of  his  faith  in  educa- 
tion as  an  aid  to  business.  The  idea  of  giving 
prizes  was  freely  supported  by  his  partners, 
who  contributed  annually  their  share  of  the 
necessary  funds  to  carry  it  on. 

[109I 


,w 


\  1 


•  'I 


The  announcement  of  the  offer  of  the 
prizes  appeared  in  1904  in  the  Chicago  news- 
papers and  created  much  interest.  From  the 
day  they  were  offered,  the  prizes  were  never 
in  any  way  connected  with  the  business  ex- 
cept in  the  committee  announcement  which 
stated  simply  that  they  were  given  "through 
the  generosity  of  Hart  Schaffher  fe?  Marx/' 

A  notable  group  of  men,  conspicuous  in 
the  economic  world,  were  invited  to  com- 
'pose  the  committee  which  conducted  the 
essay  contests.  The  chairman  of  this  com- 
mittee was  Professor  J.  Laurence  Laughlin  of 
the  University  of  Chicago.  He  and  the  men 
associated  with  him  were  delighted  to  have 
a  business  house  enter  the  educational  field 
in  this  way  and  they  enthusiastically  took  up 
the  work.  All  of  the  details  for  the  conduct 
of  the  prizes,  the  selection  of  subjects,  the 
conditions  and  classes,  were  handled  by  the 
committee.  Following  is  a  copy  of  the  first 
announcement  and  all  of  the  announcements 
after  that  were  patterned  after  this  style: 

I  no] 


)  I 


Prizes  for  Economic  Essays 

In  order  to  arouse  an  interest  in  the  study  of  topics  relating 
to  commerce  and  industry,  and  to  stimulate  an  examination  of 
the  value  of  college  training  for  business  men,  a  committee 
composed  of 

Prof.  J.  Laurence  Laughlin,  University  of  Chicago,  Chairman; 

Prof.  J.  B.  Clark,  Columbia  University; 

Prof  Henry  C.  Adams,  University  of  Michigan; 

Horace  White,  Esq.,  New  York  City,  and 

Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  National  Commissioner  of  Labor, 

have  been  enabled,  through  the  generosity  of  Messrs.  Hart 
Schaffner  6P  Marx,  of  Chicago,  to  offer  four  prises  for  the  best 
studies  on  any  one  of  the  following  subjects: 

1.  The  causes  and  extent  of  the  recent  industrial  progress 
of  Germany. 

2.  To  what  is  the  recent  growth  of  American  competition 
in  the  markets  of  Europe  to  be  attributed  ? 

3.  The  influence  of  industrial  combinations  upon  the  condi' 
tion  of  the  American  laborer. 

4.  The  economic  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  present 
colonial  possessions  to  the  mother  country. 

5.  The  causes  of  the  panic  of  1893. 

6.  What  forms  of  education  should  be  advised  for  the 
elevation  of  wage^earners  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  industrial 
status  in  the  United  States  ? 

7.  What  method  of  education  is  best  suited  for  men  enter' 
ing  upon  trade  and  commerce  ? 

[ml 


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<  I 


III 


•      V 


A  First  Prize  of  One  Thousand  Dollars,  and  a 
Second  Prizie  of  Five  Hundred  Dollars,  in  Cash, 

are  offered  for  the  best  studies  presented  by  Class  A,  composed  ex- 
clusively of  all  persons  who  have  received  the  bachelor's  degree  from 
an  American  college  since  1 893 ;  and 

A  First  Prize  of  Three  Hundred  Dollars,  and  a  Second 
Prize  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Dollars,  in  Cash, 

are  offered  for  the  best  studies  presented  by  Class  B,  composed  of 
persons  who,  at  the  time  the  papers  are  sent  in,  are  undergraduates 
of  any  American  college.  No  one  in  Class  A  may  compete  in  Class  B; 
but  any  one  in  Class  B  may  compete  in  Class  A.  The  CcMTimittee 
reserves  to  itself  the  right  to  award  the  two  prizes  of  1 1,000  and  ^500 
to  undergraduates,  if  the  merits  of  the  papers  demand  it. 

The  ownership  of  the  copyright  of  successful  studies  will  vest  in 
the  donors,  and  it  is  expected  that,  without  precluding  the  use  of  these 
papers  as  theses  for  higher  degrees,  they  will  cause  them  to  be  issued 
in  some  permanent  form. 

Competitors  are  advised  that  the  studies  should  be  thorough,  ex- 
pressed in  good  English,  and  not  needlessly  expanded.  They  should 
be  inscribed  with  an  assumed  name,  the  year  when  the  bachelor's 
degree  was  received,  and  the  institution  which  conferred  the  degree, 
or  in  which  he  is  studying,  and  accompanied  by  a  sealed  envelope 
giving  the  real  name  and  address  of  the  competitor.  The  papers  should 
be  sent  on  or  before  June  i,  1905,  to 

J.  Laurence  Laughlin,  Esq. 

University  of  Chicagp 

Box  145,  Faculty  Exchange  Chicago,  Illinois 

[112] 


After  the  death  of  Mr.  Carroll  D.  Wright 
and  Mr.  Horace  White,  their  places  were 
taken  by  Professor  Edwin  F.  Gay  and  former 
United  States  Senator  Theodore  E.  Burton, 
and  the  committee  so  stands  today.  Subjects 
are  approved;  announcements  are  sent  to  all 
colleges  and  to  the  leading  economists  of 
America;  the  papers  are  read  and  by  a  proc- 
ess of  elimination  come  down  to  the  few 
which  are  possible  winners.  The  reading 
entails  great  work.  An  idea  of  the  character 
of  the  essays  and  the  wide  variety  of  subjects 
covered  can  be  obtained  from  the  following 
list  of  essays  which  have  thus  far  been  pub- 
lished in  book  form: 

The  Arbitral  Determination  of  Railway  Wages, 
by  J.  Noble  Stockett. 

The  Results  of  Municipal  Electric  Lighting  in 
Massachusetts,  by  Edmond  Earle  Lincoln. 

The  Chicago  Produce  Market,  by  Edwin  G. 
Nourse. 

Railway  Rates  and  the  Canadian  Railway  Com^ 
mission,  by  Duncan  A.  MacGibbon. 

Railroad  Valuation,  by  Homer  Bews  Vanderblue. 

1 113] 


iti 


i 


!*r- 


II 


1 


d 


The  Taxation  of  Land  Value,  by  Yetta  Scheftel. 
The  Canadian  Iron  and  Steel  Industry,  by  W.  J. 
A.  Donald. 

The  Tin-plate  Industry,  by  Donald  Earl  Dunbar. 
Means  and  Methods  of  Agricultural  Education, 
by  Albert  H.  Leake. 

The  Cause  and  Extent  of  the  Recent  Industrial 
Progress  of  Germany,  by  Earl  Dean  Howard. 

The  Causes  of  the  Panic  of  1893,  by  W.  Jett 
Lauck. 

Industrial  Education,  by  Harlow  Stafford  Person. 
Federal  Regulation  of  Railroad  Rates,  by  Albert 
N.  Merritt. 

Ship  Subsidies,  by  Walter  T.  Dunmore. 
SociaUsm:  A  Critical  Analysis,  by  Oscar  D. 
Skelton. 

Industrial  Accidents  and  Their  Compensation, 
by  Gilbert  L.  Campbell. 

The  Standard  of  Living  Among  the  Industrial 
People  of  America,  by  Frank  Hatch  Streightoff. 

The  Navigable  Rhine,  by  Edwin  J.  Clapp. 

Social  Value,  by  Benjamin  M.  Anderson,  Jr. 

History  and  Organii^ation  of  Criminal  Statistics 
in  the  United  States,  by  Louis  N.  Robinson. 

Freight  Classification,  by  J.  F.  StrombecL 

[114] 


!  < 


Waterways  versus  Railways,  by  Harold  G. 
Moulton. 

The  Value  of  Organi2;ed  Speculation,  by  Harrison 
H.  Brace. 

Industrial  Education,  Its  Problems,  Methods  and 
Dangers,  by  Albert  H.  Leake. 

The  U.  S.  Federal  Internal  Tax  History  from  1861 
to  1871,  by  Harry  E.  Smith. 

Conciliation  and  Arbitration  in  the  Coal  Industry 
of  America,  by  Arthur  E.  Suffem. 

Welfare  as  an  Economic  Quantity,  by  G.  P. 
Watkins. 

The  Meaning  and  Application  of  "Fair  Valuation" 
as  used  by  Utility  Commissions,  by  Harleigh  N. 
Hartman. 

A  History  of  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railroad, 
by  Howard  Douglas  Doziei, 

Mr.  Schaffher  took  the  greatest  delight  in 
the  prize  essays.  He  had  hoped  at  the  outset 
that  the  number  of  contestants  would  be 
legion  but  he  quickly  saw  that  worth-while 
productions  could  come  only  from  long  study 
and  careful  research  and  that  such  studies 
advanced  the  cause  of  commercial  education 

I115I 


I  U 


i 


1 


It 


I  J 


i  { 


much  more  than  a  great  quantity  of  mediocre 
productions  could  do. 

He  was  delighted,  too,  in  the  associations 
which  the  prize  essays  created.  To  Professor 
Laughlin  he  was  very  close,  and  there  was  a 
fine  mutual  attachment  between  the  educator 
and  the  business  man.  Between  Dean  Gay  of 
Harvard  and  Mr.  Schaffner  there  was  the 
deep  respect  of  one  ardent  man  for  another. 
Other  members  of  the  committee  he  met  at 
times  or  exchanged  letters  with  them. 

He  always  had  great  interest  in  the  win- 
ners of  the  pri2;es.  The  first  winner  in  1904 
•later  became  an  intimate  of  Mr.  Schaffner  and 
ultimately  joined  the  business  to  become  one 
of  its  executives.  Others  called  or  wrote;  the 
former  received  genial  welcome,  the  latter 
beautiful  letters. 

The  estabhshment  of  a  School  of  Com- 
merce in  Chicago  was  a  natural  sequence  to 
Mr.  Schaffner's  thought  on  the  subject  of 
commercial  education.  One  or  two  such 
schools  existed  in  the  East,  notably  at  the 

I116I 


University  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  College 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  the  project  of 
a  school  in  Chicago  quickly  commanded  his 
support.  After  a  preliminary  survey,  the  idea 
was  presented  to  Northwestern  University 
and  arrangements  were  quickly  made. 

He  shrank  from  the  thought  of  becoming 
the  patron  of  an  educational  institution;  he 
wanted  to  get  the  thing  done  but  wished  to 
be  as  inconspicuous  in  it  as  possible.  He  in- 
vited a  group  of  business  men  of  the  city  to 
lunch  at  The  Mid-Day  Club.  At  this  meet- 
ing it  was  decided  that  the  Association  of 
Commerce  was  the  proper  body  to  promote 
the  plan.  One  of  the  regular  Wednesday 
meetings  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee 
was  given  to  the  subject  and  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan.  The  idea  of 
interesting  as  many  business  men  as  possible 
in  the  project  was  adopted  and  a  board  of 
guarantors  was  organiz^ed  and  the  school  was 
begun.  The  first  guarantors  of  the  school 
were  the  following: 


I 


111 


; 


Alfred  L.  Baker 

Adolphus  C.  Bartlett 

Harold  Benington 

Jonathan  W.  Brooks 

Charles  L.  Brown 

R.  S.  Buchanan 

Edward  B.  Butler 

J.  Fred  Butler 

Fayette  S.  Cable 
ames  R.  Cardwell 
ohn  Alexander  Cooper 

Joseph  H.  DeFrees 

A.  Lowes  Dickinson 

Herman  J.  Dirks 

George  W.  Dixon 

Willnm  A.  Dyche 

Charles  W.  Folds 

David  R.  Forgan 

Edward  E.  Gore 

Richard  C.  Hall 

William  F.  Hypes 

J.  Porter  Joplin 

William  Kendall 

Edward  C.  Kimbell 

Charles  S.  Ludlam 

John  Lee  Mahin 

Charles  J.  Marr 

Charles  A.  Marsh 

James  Marwick 

Stephen  T.  Mather 


IiiS] 


L.  Wilbur  Messer 

E.  S.  Mills 

S.  Roger  Mitchell 
Arthur  G.  Mitten 
Luman  S.  Pickett 
Ernest  Reckitt 
WiUiam  H.  Roberts 
Isadore  B.  Rosenbach 
Albert  W.  Rugg 
Joseph  Schaffner 
Charles  H.  Schweppe 
John  W.  Scott 
W.  Ernest  Seatree 
EUjah  W.  Sells 
A.  W.  Shaw 
George  W.  Sheldon 
Edward  M.  Skinner 
Allen  R.  Smart 
Mason  B.  Starring 
Joseph  E.  Sterrett 
Homer  A.  Stillwell 
Seymour  Walton 
Harry  A.  Wheeler 

F.  F.  White 
John  E.  Wilder 

T.  Edward  Wilder 
Orva  G.  Williams 
Henry  W.  Wilmot 
W.  A.  Winterbum 
Arthur  Young 


.  The  school  began  modestly  in  1908  with 
255  students.  Offices  and  class-rooms  were 
provided  in  the  Northwestern  University 
Building  at  the  comer  of  Dearborn  and  Lake 
Streets.  Professor  Willard  E.  Hotchkiss  be- 
came the  first  dean  of  the  school.  He  grad- 
ually  assembled  a  faculty  which  in  the  course 
of  time  became  as  strong  as  any  faculty  on 
commercial  and  industrial  teaching  in  the 
country.  The  school  showed  strength  froin 
the  very  start  and  it  was  only  a  compara- 
tively  few  years  until  there  were  700  or  800 
students  and  a  constantly  growing  interest. 
Meanwhile,  the  dean  of  the  school  came  to 
Mr.  Schaffner  concerning  all  of  his  plans.  He 
received  ample  moral  support  in  discouraging 
moments,  not  to  mention  the  very  handsome 
gift  of  money  which  Mr.  Schaffiier  made  to 
the  school  and  which  did  a  great  deal  to  help 
it  over  the  rough  places  in  the  first  ten  years 
of  its  existence.  The  enrollment  for  the  school 
year  of  1 920- 1 92 1  has  recently  been  completed. 
The  evening  school  in  the  Northwestern 

I119I 


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I 


i  t 


Pli  I 


>|i 


University  Building  has  2,446  students  and 
the  day  school  on  the  campus  at  Evanston 
has  255.  The  contribution  which  the  school 
is  making,  not  only  in  the  good  that  it  does 
the  students,  most  of  whom  have  positions 
in  various  commercial  and  industrial  concerns 
in  Chicago,  but  the  research  work  which  is 
undertaken  by  the  faculty  of  the  school,  is  of 
a  character  that  promises  fine  development. 

Mr.  Schaffner  did  not  have  positive  ideas 
as  to  the  technology  of  teaching  commercial 
subjects  except  that  he  had  a  strong  tendency 
toward  the  liberal  and  cultural  as  against  the 
narrowly  useful.  His  interest  in  commercial 
education  seemed  to  grow  out  of  his  desire 
to  have  men  of  education  and  culture  around 
him  in  business  and  his  thoughts  naturally 
turned  to  the  means  for  getting  such  men  to 
enter  business. 

It  was  characteristic  of  him  that  he  depre- 
cated any  efforts  to  pay  him  honor  for  what 
he  had  done  for  the  cause  of  commercial 
education.  The  faculty  and  students  at  the 

[120  J 


Northwestern  University  School  of  Com- 
merce were  constantly  desirous  of  showing 
him  their  gratitude  but  on  only  one  or  two 
occasions  could  he  be  induced  to  attend 
meetings  and  then  only  to  sit  with  the  audi- 
ence where  he  would  not  be  conspicuous. 
The  catalogue  of  the  school  once  contained 
a  reference  to  him  as  its  founder  and  he  asked 
that  it  be  eliminated.  Despite  this  entirely 
sincere  modesty,  he  is  regarded  by  all  persons 
as  the  man  who  gave  the  school  the  necessary 
encouragement  and  financial  support  at  the 
start  and  he  is  commonly  acknowledged  as 
the  school's  founder. 

One  honor  he  did  accept  and  appreciate. 
He  was  elected  a  trustee  of  Northwestern 
University,  an  institution  built  on  denomina- 
tional lines  and  still  so  much  attached  to  its 
denominational  traditions  that  the  election 
constituted  an  unusual  and  special  tribute  to 
Mr.  Schaffner's  worth  and  work. 


[ml 


a  V  » 


1^ 


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It 


THOUGHTS  ON  SUCCESS 

N  a  letter  written  in  191 5  or  1916, 
Mr.  Schaffner  discussed  success 
and  commented  on  the  element 
of  circumstance  in  connection 
with  it.  His  thoughts  were  dictated  in  an 
off-hand  manner,  without  the  remotest  idea 
of  their  being  published,  but  they  so  well 
define  the  man  that  certain  paragraphs  taken 
disconnectedly  are  herewith  reproduced: 

"To  be  successful  in  the  real  meaning  of 
the  word  is  to  aspire  to  something  besides 
and  beyond  money. 

"In  business,  our  standing  as  merchants  is 
measured  by  financial  results.  But  these  are  a 
reward  only  when  they  represent  qualities 
that  make  one's  activities  useful  and  honor^ 
able. 

"Many  so-called  successful  men  are  pov 
erty'Stricken  in  character  and  live  Hves  of 
moral  and  intellectual  penury. 

[  123  ] 


«*•. 


' 


"While  there  is  occasionally  a  successful 
man  who  owes  his  success  ahnost  entirely  to 
luck,  still  even  in  his  case  to  be  able  to  hold 
onto  his  success  shows  that  he  has  qualities 
which  are  unusual. 

"It's  harder  to  keep  what  one  makes  some- 
times than  to  make  it.  Lots  of  people  have, 
after  acquiring  a  fortune,  lost  it  all  or  most 
of  it  through  some  weakness  of  judgment. 

"Most  men  are  surprised  by  their  own 
success  when  it  reaches  the  dimensions  that 
some  have  attained. 

"Imagination  is  one  great  essential;  judg- 
ment is  another.  Many  men  have  opportun- 
ities but  do  not  see  them.  They  start  with 
plenty  of  enthusiasm  but  become  impatient 
at  the  slow  progress  they  make  and  change 
for  something  they  think  better  and  so  they 
go  on  from  one  thing  to  another.  Others 
have  not  enough  enterprise  to  reali2;e  that 
they  are  in  the  wrong  place  and  stick  to  an 
umpromising  position  all  their  lives,  often  at 
the  cost  of  happiness. 

[  ^M 1 


M\ 


"The  important  thing  is  to  know  what  op- 
portunity really  is  when  it  appears;  to  be  able 
to  analy2;e  it,  perhaps  only  intuitively,  but  to 
know  when  there  is  a  chance  to  make  work 
mean  something. 

"Most  men  in  business  who  come  up  from 
boyhood  are  successful  because  they  have 
brains,  character  and  industry.  They  in- 
spire confidence.  Responsibility  is  gradually 
handed  over  to  them  and,  as  they  acquit 
themselves  creditably,  their  opportunities  en- 
large. Deserving  men  imder  more  appreciative 
management  would  do  much  greater  things. 
Circumstance  is  a  big  factor  but,  after  all,  the 
circumstance,  in  order  to  materiali:5e,  must 
find  the  man  with  judgment  enough  to  real- 
iz^  his  opportunity. 

"The  backbone  of  real  success  is  character, 
fortitude,  courage  and  judgment.  Many  an 
impending  failure  has  been  turned  into  a  suc- 
cess by  the  courage  of  those  concerned. 

"Confidence  is  an  essential  for  every  man 
to  aspire  to;  to  have  people  believe  in  him, 

[  125 1 


•F' 


^  f, 


*i 


« 


.ill 


in  what  he  makes  and  sells  or  what  he  says 
and  does.  You  will  find  in  talking  with  men 
of  affairs  generally  that  something  in  their 
personality  commands  respect  and  confidence 
and  it  is  that  very  thing  that  their  employers 
admired  in  them  at  the  start. 

"Judgment  is  one  of  the  greatest  factors. 
You  will  seldom  find  a  man,  no  matter  if  he 
is  educated  or  not — he  may  be  very  ilUter" 
ate — but  if  he  is  signally  successful  he  has 
judgment;  he  knows  men,  and  judges  and 
gauges  conditions. 

"There  are  always  critical  junctures  in 
every  business  when  the  judgment  and  vision 
of  one  or  sometimes  two  men  decide  its  fate. 
But  back  of  it  all  must  be  courage.'' 

In  the  same  letter  he  gave  a  glimpse  of  his 
own  business  experience  which,  because  it 
came  firom  his  own  pen,  is  deeply  interesting. 
It  is  reproduced  substantially  as  written: 

"Before  becoming  associated  with  Harry 
and  Max  Hart,  I  was  in  one  position  for 
seventeen  years  and  had  gone  through  a  daily 

I  126] 


grind  of  bookkeeping  and  credit^makii^.  The 
people  I  was  with  were  conservative  mer^ 
chants  and,  while  they  were  very  nice  to  me, 
they  probably  did  not  consider  my  abiHty 
anything  more  than  ordinary.  After  many 
years  of  service,  I  felt  that  I  must  resign, 
although  it  was  with  fear  and  trembHng.  I 
had  no  idea  how  I  would  be  able  to  make  a 
Uving.  My  family  were  dependent  on  my 
earnings.  I  went  to  St.  Paul  to  lay  the  matter 
before  a  relative  and  it  was  decided  that  I 
should  go  there  and  start  in  the  mortgage 
business.  Immediately  I  announced  my  resign 
nation  and,  so  that  I  could  not  retrace  my 
steps,  I  made  it  publicly  known. 

"A  few  days  later  I  met  Harry  and  Max 
Hart  and  asked  them  what  they  thought  of 
the  step  I  was  taking.  They  said  they  had 
not  made  up  their  minds  that  they  were  go- 
ing to  let  me  go.  I  knew  what  that  meant. 
I  said,  'If  you  want  me  to  stay,  I  will  stay.' 
It  happened  that  there  was  a  change  then 
taking  place  in  the  firm.  My  joining  them 

[127I 


!• 


tl 


'^ 


« 


I!      W 


1 1; 


ill 


:| 


would  never  have  occurred  to  them,  how" 
ever,  if  I  had  not  been  free.  They  would  not 
have  made  overtures  to  me  if  I  had  not  my^ 
self  withdrawn  from  the  other  concern. 

"I  mention  this  to  show  that  a  large  ele- 
ment of  luck  was  connected  with  the  whole 
situation.  The  feet  that,  this  opportunity  ex" 
isted  and  was  waiting  for  me  and  my  own 
determination  to  sever  my  connection  devel- 
oped about  the  same  time.  Otherwise  I  might 
have  gone  into  the  mortgage  business  and 
made  a  miserable  failure. 

"My  own  confidence  in  myself  was  not 
nearly  as  great  as  my  confidence  in  Harry 
and  Max.  They  had  a  nicely  established  busi- 
ness.  They  needed  me  but  I  needed  them 
much  more.  They  encouraged  and  inspired 
me.  When  I  started  to  do  a  little  modest  ad- 
vertising, I  had  no  idea  where  it  would  lead, 
certainly  never  dreaming  it  would  develop  as 
it  did.  If  I  had  not  been  associated  with  men 
of  such  eminent  merchandising  ability  there 
would  have  been  no  such  results." 

[128] 


TWO  TRIBUTES 

N  event  which  brought  much 
gratification  to  Mr.  SchaflFner  in 
the  latter  year  of  his  life  was  his 
association  and  friendship  with 
John  E.  WiUiams  of  Streator,  IlUnois.  Mr. 
Williams  was  the  first  chairman  of  the  Arbi- 
tration Board  which  came  into  being  through 
Mr.  Schaffner  s  desire  to  dispense  justice  to 
the  employes  of  the  company.  He  was  well 
known  in  labor  circles;  he  was  a  man  of  the 
finest  character  and  of  a  remarkable  sense  of 
concihation;  he  was  called  a  "professional 
conciliator.'^ 

There  was  a  warm  mutual  attachment  be- 
tween the  two  men  and  no  one  was  more 
deeply  moved  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Schafiher 
than  Mr.  Williams.  At  his  home  in  Streator, 
he  sat  down  in  deep  sorrow  and  penned  a 
personal  tribute  which  was  so  beautifully 
written  and  so  splendidly  expresses  Mr. 

[  129 1 


) 


I  I 


! 


\ 


!l 


II 


Schaffiier  as  he  was  understood  by  his  asso- 
ciates that  we  are  glad  to  preserve  it  by  re- 
producing it  here: 

"With  the  passing  of  Joseph  Schaffner, 
there  passed  one  of  the  finest  souls,  one  of 
the  most  gracious,  most  chivalrous  spirits  I 
have  ever  known.  In  him  was  combined  a  re- 
markable capacity  for  business  with  an  un- 
usual genius  for  the  gentler  arts  of  life. 

"He  was  a  pioneer  in  the  great  movement 
for  industrial  peace,  a  leader  among  the  manu' 
facturers  of  our  day  whose  larger  and  more 
generous  vision  enables  them  to  contemplate 
the  coming  of  an  era  of  fairer  relations  be- 
tween employers  and  employed.  Not  only 
did  he  aspire  for  the  coming  of  this  era,  but 
he  labored  in  practical  fashion  to  bring  it 
about;  and  the  success  of  the  famous  labor 
agreement  of  Hart  Schaffner  fe?  Marx  is  in 
large  measure  due  to  his  liberal  and  under- 
standing spirit,  his  patience,  faith  and  loyalty. 

"As  arbitrator  under  that  agreement,  my 
own  faith  has  many  times  been  confirmed  by 

[130] 


his  unfaltering  confidence,  and  in  more  than 
one  critical  situation  his  generous  attitude,  his 
unselfish  devotion  to  our  common  ideal,  has 
helped  to  support  the  new  industrial  experi^ 
ment  and  to  keep  it  in  safe  and  successful 
courses. 

"Joseph  Schaffiier  was  a  business  man  plus. 
He  loved  good  literature  and  high  thinking. 
He  counted  among  his  friends  the  greatest 
souls  of  history;  he  communed  with  them 
daily  in  his  library  and  drew  firom  them  in- 
spiration and  serenity;  and  he  carried  their 
aroma  into  the  counting  room  and  spiritual- 
i2;ed  that  usually  arid  atmosphere.  No  doubt 
the  spirits  of  Matthew  Arnold,  John  Ruskin, 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  the  other  great 
souls  of  Hterature  had  through  him  their  part 
in  humanizing  modem  business  and  so  mak- 
ing possible  the  success  of  the  Hart  Schaffner 
fe?  Marx  agreement. 

"I  do  not  mourn  Joseph  Schaffiier.  He  has 
added  something  to  my  life  that  cannot  pass. 
The  contact  with  such  a  soul  leaves  effects 

ti3il 


a 


t  ■• 


lUP" 


I 


h 


I 


which  are  immortal.  He  lives  on  in  thousands 
of  lives — those  associated  with  him  in  the 
counting  room,  in  the  work  shops,  in  busi" 
ness  and  social  life;  and  all  of  them  have  been 
enriched  by  knowing  him,  all  of  them  have 
had  their  estimation  of  human  life  ennobled 
by  him,  and  the  total  wealth  of  the  world 
has  been  increased  by  as  much  as  he  has 
strengthened  men's  faith  in  the  worth  and 
dignity  of  human  life. 

"I  rejoice  that  Joseph  Schaffiier  has  borne 
witness  to  the  worth  of  our  common  life.  I 
salute  him  on  his  passing  and  bid  him,  in  the 
words  of  Browning,  'greet  the  unseen  with 
a  cheer.'  Good-bye,  Joseph  Schafiher,  modem 
business  man  and  perfect  gentleman.  I  thank 
you  for  having  lived  your  life  among  us." 

A  few  days  after  Mr.  Schaffher  s  death,  his 
associates  sent  the  following  letter  to  hun- 
dreds of  his  personal  and  business  friends  to 
express  in  a  small  way  their  sense  of  great  loss 
and  their  resolution  to  carry  on  as  far  as  they 
could  his  work  according  to  his  ideals: 


"It  has  not  been  possible  until  now  to 
write  you  about  Mr.  Schaffner.  Our  depth 
of  feeling  has  not  given  us  the  command  of 
words.  He  represented  so  much  splendid 
friendship  and  such  high  inspiration  to  those 
of  us  with  whom  he  daily  came  in  contact 
that  we  who  knew  him  best  are  almost  dumb 
when  we  try  to  put  into  words  the  things 
we  feel  and  want  to  say  about  him. 

"We  knew  he  was  very,  very  ill,  and  in 
great  sorrow  we  feared  the  worst,  but  a  full 
sense  of  what  it  means  to  be  without  him 
came  only  after  he  had  gone. 

"Tributes  to  Mr.  Schaffner  have  been  paid 
by  men  in  every  walk  of  life — from  university 
men  who  rejoice  in  the  stimulation  and  en- 
couragement he  gave  them;  from  business 
men  who,  surveying  his  work,  recogni2;e  its 
genius  and  power;  from  representatives  of 
labor  who  looked  upon  him  as  a  friend  of  sym- 
pathetic understanding.  These  tributes  are  so 
numerous  and  from  so  many  sources  that  it 
is  not  possible  to  give  them  to  you. 

1 133 1 


!, 


}t 


II 


r  I 


'^Those  of  us  who  have  worked  with  Mr. 
Schaffher  have,  in  his  passing,  accepted  a  great 
trust.  To  us  he  has  given  stimulation,  en- 
couragement, hope,  praise,  ambition,  determi- 
nation and  happiness.  Whoever  talked  with 
him  intimately  walked  out  of  his  office  in  a 
glow  such  as  only  a  man  of  great  intellectual 
power  and  remarkable  sympathy  could  impart. 

"We  have  received  much  from  him.  It  is 
now  our  high  resolution  to  immortalize  what 
he  gave  us,  to  carry  it  into  our  daily  life,  to 
transmit  it  to  our  business,  to  our  families  and 
to  our  friends.  Whatever  we  can  do  to  per- 
petuate his  thought  and  his  spirit  will  be  to 
aid  in  the  perpetuation  of  something  great 
and  noble. 

"What  is  the  greatest  tribute  we  can  pay 
to  his  memory?  The  flowers  we  send  soon 
wither;  the  words  we  speak,  however  elo- 
quent, are  soon  *a  part  of  the  silence.'  The 
love  we  feel  for  him  will  continue  in  our 
hearts  as  long  as  we  live;  but  love  is  in  deeds, 
not  merely  in  thoughts  and  words. 

[134I 


"Mr.  Schafiher  lived  for  ideals;  he  helped 
every  man  who  came  under  his  influence  to 
be  a  better  man— better  in  business,  better  in 
daily  living,  better  in  his  relations  to  the  pub- 
lic and  to  his  associates.  He  was  an  inspira- 
tion. He  helped  to  make  the  clothing  business, 
not  only  his  own  business  but  that  of  the 
customers  of  the  house,  and  even  that  of  com- 
petitors, cleaner,  better,  higher  in  tone.  He 
helped  to  make  the  relations  between  em- 
ployer and  employe  better,  sweeter,  more 
human. 

"Our  duty  is  to  live  for  and  carry  on  his 
ideals.  We  can  raise  no  greater  monument  to 
this  noble  life  than  to  consecrate  ourselves, 
in  his  .high  spirit  of  brotherhood,  to  the  fur- 
ther and  greater  realization  of  his  splendid 
purposes. 

"To  this  great  enterprise,  we  now  sum- 
mon every  man  who  ineiw  md  ioved  Joseph 
Schafiher." 


9  •  1 1 


t  *   >  t 

•  •  *  ■ 

*  •  t  i 


•  • »  • 
•  >  •  I  * 


'•*'t    •  ••«•  • 

•».    »»         •      •      ••         i> 
*t      •tatt         9 

:        '     »  Kill 


.    9 


[135] 


^%^        ai^    'it^ft,    |b'.«,'»tk. 


'  ^ 


.  m 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  atfter  the  date  of  borrowing,  as 
provided  by  the  rules  of  the  Library  or  by  special  arrange- 
ment with  the  Labrarian  in  charge. 


DATE  BORROWED 


DATE  DUE 


DATE  BORROWED 


DATE  DUE 


C28(lt4l)M100 


D254.5 


Schl4 


Schaffner,  Joseph,  1848-1918, 

Recollections  and  impressions  of 
his  associates. 


j>^d'Y,  S 


'S^c^Jf  /  Y 


f^S'\  6(^ 


2lq 


MAR  011994 


COLUMB  A  UNIVERSITY 

III! 


0032050852 


END  OF 
TITLE 


